How to use this Page

That was one of the most interesting videos I've seen in a long time. And such a great example of how important it is for an author to embrace the emerging technologies.

Wow! I love seeing/reading things like that. I definitely hope publishers catch on. Also - feel better!

Truly, I appreciate the advice on building an audience and how to continue momentum with that audience. As I pursue the potential of self-publishing, it is best to have a good understanding of what the successful ones have done.

I have more.

Thanks! I will start watching the meta-data tags more. I have tweaked my first book meta data, but not the 2nd. I never thought of entering a competing author's name in as a meta data. Good thoughts. Great video.

It's great that publishers are learning from self-publishers because that would increase the efficiency of the publishing industry in general.

Yes, most of us who self-publish have learned the power of metadata. Readers can't enjoy your work if they can't find it.

I know metadata can improve your rankings drastically. I changed some of mine last week and hit the Nook Top 100 for the first time ever, peaking at #4.

However, just be aware that it's against Amazon's TOS to enter another author's name or book title in your metadata. If they feel your metadata is misleading in any way you will receive a VERY scary email from the KDP compliance team.

Excellent post! Thank you so much for sharing this explanation of the impact of meta-data. Ever since I heard about your comment the other day in a summary about DBW, I was wondering exactly what you had meant. Now, I know!

This is such smart advice. I worked in advertising SEO for awhile, and metadata/keyterms were HUGE. Researching what keyterms were hot, tweaking and angling all the time to hit high in the search results. It didn't occur to me then that this would be useful in publishing down the road, but your example shows just how big a deal it is in every marketing arena.

Yikes! Amazon seems to have taken down tags. I wonder how else authors can control the metadata.

Thanks for the info-- and congrats on working with Hugh Howey!

Really great detective work. I love it. How can you see your meta data tags Barnes and Noble? Also How can you see other peoples meta tags? I would love to know.
Susan at Pen and Ink

Really glad I caught your comments at DBW13 so I wrote about them on my blog. http://lastgenerationbc.com/2013/01/5-tips-for-authors-from-the-top-conference-on-e-books-and-book-publishing/#comments Any author, fic or non-fic like I am, could use help from get-go with metadata positioning.

The guy's a hoot, but a genius designer too. Really interesting, thank you.

I watched this a few weeks ago, shortly after deciding to officially open for business as a cover artist, and fell in love. He is inspiring, and probably a blast to work with.

That was great! Inspiring and funny

Brilliant! Thanks for posting!

Heh. When you said "not short" I expected a good half hour.

Thank you for posting this. He's amazing and so funny.

Thanks for the link. That was super informative.

Fascinating, thank you. I especially liked the story about the 'ruined' batch of "Dry".

Wow. I kept trying to turn my attention to other things but I had to quickly reopen the tab to see his finished designs. That was so compelling and fascinating. It is a joy to know that book designers consider both the story and how a ready will interact with their product. This man does brilliant work. Thank you so much for sharing.

thank you for posting this. I loved this inside look on book cover design - brilliant! I also adored his blunt commentary on ebooks...I not so secretly agree with him!

Thanks for posting this. I'm working on a title and cover for the second book in a series and I knew I didn't like my idea very much, but after viewing this video I *know* it's wrong. It would be the equivalent of the labeled picture of the apple. :) It's encouragement to keep digging for a better idea.

I may have to link to this - at least the last part - when friends ask me to explain why I don't want an e-reader.

"But it's so convenient!"

"Yes, but the feel and the look and the smell and the... here, just watch this."

I loved this. This guy was fun to watch on screen, and he makes you think and appreciate what book designers do.

I had no idea. Obviously I have a lot to learn.

That's very interesting. I also had no idea. I'm heading over there in the spring, maybe I should fill my suitcase full of books to sell...

Is the public just not buying?

interesting

The UK market is a year or two behind the US in terms of the transition to digital. UK publishers are understandably uncertain what to do and when. No surprise they are playing it cautious.

The two biggest book retailers by far are Waterstone's and W.H. Smiths.

Waterstone's is the UK equivalent of B&N. It's been through some bad times in recent years but is under new management and may just surprise us all, not least with a pending partnership deal of some sort with B&N.

W.H. Smiths has more stores but is less book-focussed. Both stores are competing with the big name titles with supermarkets who sell at huge discounts.

But both retailers have digital stores (W.H.Smiths via Kobo - Waterstone's a standalone store) and both are expanding rapidly and competing well with Amazon.

US authors who are selling in the UK via the convenience of Amazon would be well advised to look at the many other UK platforms available.

Readers are buying more books than ever in the UK. If the publishers aren't getting you to them then go them yourself.

Wow, I didn't even know this was a problem, but I can see your point. Thanks for sharing this. Interesting!

Interesting. I discovered through a Google alert that my novel, published as an ebook through Amazon and Smashwords, was featured on what seems to be a Swedish-language Apple iBook page. (Could be Danish or Norwegian. I'm no expert.) So strange things are happening out there in the publishing world and it's hard to keep up with them.

as a writer and a reader based in the UK i mostly buy from amazon as i live in a rural area. given the choice i would go to a book shop and do this when i can.

small indie bookshops are best as the large chains are crammed with 'celeb' books both fiction and bio.

can i assure previous commenter that book buyers in the UK are alive and kicking.

I'm also UK based, and I buy most of my books and all of my ebooks (and I read a lot of books) from Amazon UK. It's convenient and cheap and has better selection (as the previous commenter wrote, chain stores are filled with lots of celebrity memoirs and the like). I very rarely shop at Waterstone's or Smith's or Foyles for books, unless it's something I can't get online for some reason. I do find it annoying that some US titles aren't available here, so it's interesting to learn part of the reason why that's so.

I always try to support my local bookshop. It's tiny. I want to keep it alive. Often they will match Amazon's price just to keep my custom. There are a lot of these little bookshops. And they can order anything you like, often over the phone or by email. Amazon is just too dominant.

As a UK editor, one thing I've found is that UK publishers are finding out about titles too late to publish simultaneously with the US, which means we lose Australia as an exclusive territory because of their copyright laws - and that's a big part of making costs work for a title.

Interesting that you're finding it tough to sell in the UK too! I'm British, currently living in the UK, and my first book is set in England with an all-British cast of characters, and where is it being published? The US. This still boggles me slightly. We're currently shopping it round for a UK publisher as well, but no success so far...

I do think bookselling is in trouble in the U.K., I think. Waterstones might be similar to B&N, but most Waterstones stores are smaller and have less range. WH Smith only stocks bestsellers, like the supermarkets. And there are relatively few independent stores around, and many of them are pretty poor.

There are some good smaller chains, like Foyles, but only in a few places.

And while ebooks are far behind the US, in general, I don't see any of the other stores challenging Amazon. If only on price, they're not close. The WH Smith ebook store, for example, is much more expensive (they seem to add the 20% sales tax on top of the price of the print edition (print books are exempt from the tax) and only then apply discounts). Maybe they'll evolve that, but right now, they are not an appealing ebook retailer.

I'm hoping it'll get better, but...

Thank you. It sounds well thought out, ethical, and fair.

The only comment I'd like to add is that authors who agree to other venues fully understand that most sales of digital books are generated through Amazon. Or through digital publishers web sites. In other words, an e-book can be sent from one venue to another but the sales still come from Amazon as it stands right now.

I think the whole kit and kaboodle is genius. And I've been wondering for a while when an agent would embrace in something like this.

I hope you have great success with this model.

This is really interesting to see, and I hope it works out well for you and the authors who decide to use the service. It sounds like you've spent a lot of time and effort to work the kinks out in advance and to maintain your ethical standards. I'm pleased to see an agent who's looking to the future and attempting to find ways to help authors publish ebooks in more venues.

I've only seen this from the consumer end, where I'll want a book in a particular format and not be able to obtain it, even though it's readily available in another, similar format.

I'm a librarian, and we're pretty much stuck dealing with Overdrive (and their, in my opinion, terrible system) and our patrons don't understand why we aren't getting ebooks in the formats they prefer, nor why we keep using a system that doesn't function well. We can finally get Kindle books, but it's been a long battle and there are a lot of issues still to be resolved.

Fantastic goods from you, man. Ive study your stuff ahead of and youre just as well amazing. I enjoy what youve got right here, adore what youre stating and the way you say it. You make it entertaining and you even now manage to help keep it wise. I cant wait to go through additional from you. That is really an incredible weblog.

This last year, I decided to self-pub the middle grade novels I'd written (2 series novels and 3 related short stories), and I'm currently editing #3 for uploading.

And NLA's DLP would be something I would jump at. Like anything new, there is a HUGE learning curve with self-publishing. I know numerous authors who are doing well and making decent money at it.

Many of them have a few added advantages:
1) a known name (published traditionally)
2) writing in an established genre (romance, erotica, etc). MG is relatively new in ebooks because the parent is still monitoring downloads and most kids don't have an e-reader(though they were big gifts this last Christmas!)
3) a networking platform that reaches out to potential readers, prior to SP endeavor.

I've had a tough time finding reviewers for my MG novels. In fact, I've been on one waiting list for over 7 months. Having an agent who has access to numerous reviewers would be wonderful.

Finding a designer for cover art is hard . . . and a crap shoot. What I want to see on a cover isn't necessarily what sells the cover. To that end, I LOVE my covers.

Don't even ask me about foreign sales. True, Amazon has opened new shops in numerous countries, but they want to read TRANSLATIONS and not the English version. Finding (and paying a translator) is totally out of my abilities.

I'm sure there are a few more points I'd like to make, but I need to walk my kidlet to school!

This is a very intriguing offer, in my opinion. I recently read about another book that used a similar idea, where the agent offered help for it.

I personally am hoping to go the traditional route, but something like this is just as viable to me, for example, if no publishers show interest.

My question is, how do you choose people to use this service? I know the author elects to do so, but do they need to query you first, specifically for it? Or is it a case where the book didn't sell to a publisher, and you offer to give them this sort of representation?

:-)

Off topic...

I just wanted to say that I really liked your entry for Erica's contest. It's delightfully awful!

And if Blogger eats my comment for the third time, I want to know why. :D

Just to say I think this is a great model, Kristin, and I love the idea. Thanks for all you do to support your authors. Even if I'm not one of them, it gives me the warm fuzzies to see an agent so involved.

I find it interesting that a new type of service is still compensated by the "old" standards.

Why 15%? Why put in the loophole of having a two-year minimum in your liaison agreement to cover your risk? Why not price the service for what it is?

I'm still waiting to hear about that "fresh new idea" from an agency on how they can help the writer in the e-market. (Gee, haven't we heard that request before?)

I've followed this blog for quite some time and appreciate all the insight you've provided. Please keep this conversation going. The agent's role in the new way of publishing has yet to be clearly articulated and NLA is an agency who could make this happen.

Thank you, Kristen, for your honesty and putting yourself out there in the best interest of all writers, not just your clients.

Lisa

Glad that particular issue is resolved. And it appears you are leaving the office at normal business hours. Must be a really good day :-)

Yay for being back to happy! I wish there were a standard for royalty statements. It seems each publisher does it differently, which makes me tear my hair out. Thanks for keeping us informed!

Yay, Random House!

With all of the disconcerting news about pub-houses changing their business models in a way that hurts the author, it's great to see one of the big houses play fair.

Whew!

So gald to hear that RH is supporting the authors with their decisions. With so many of us exploring epublications it's great to have experts like you and RH ensuring we still have options!

I am quite happy to see this blog. Oh yes, I am.

I'm sure RH is thrilled, too :)

I was hoping you would address Harlequin's changes. I always value your insight, Kristin. Thank you for sharing it with us!

This kind of information is very helpful to newbies as well! Thanks :)

Thanks for doing the math. HQ pretty much does what it wants, since it has an unending supply of authors willing to give up their firstborn to be published by them. Frankly, I think e-royalty ought to be 50%, which is what my publishing company does, but I'm a writer, so I tend to take that side.
I blogged on this, trying to get people to see the bigger picture.

Kristin, how does the 15% net for series authors compare to what it was previously? They requested a full from me for one of their lines. Is this a better or worse deal than in the past?

As a series author with HQ, it needs to be noted that under the old formula series authors received 75% of what single title authors did -- under the new model they receive 60%. This is going backwards!

Thanks to you, and to Bob Mayer, for showing us the numbers. Most helpful.

Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery

Thanks so much, Kristin!

Really appreciate your insights and analysis, Kristin. Looking forward to having you at our conference in Australia, if you survive RWA NY!

HI there

I have just found your blog and have already started to learn more about writing and publishing. As a mature woman I have just ocmpleted a university course which now leaves me time to get back into my writing - so it is great so be able to follow blogs that deal with literary issues:):)

Olga from http://[email protected]

The math was making my head spin. If anyone asks me again why I want an agent I will tell them to read this post! I'm glad you have it figured out so writers can write :)

Question: Are publishers as bad at calculating net profits as the motion picture industry is? Because if they are, then really, no matter what the percent or how it is calculated, you'll end up with zero. Movies almost never show a profit so they don't have to pay the points on net. I think their accountants use smoke and mirrors and maybe a Ouija board to balance the books.

Can someone explain what is meant by Agency Model?

Kristin, please cover the topic of "actively writing", the header for the Harlequin letter. Even tho not actively writing, those books are out there and reissued regularly, plus bundled. That 15% in lieu of the 50% our older contracts covered of Cover price, is a big bite.

Kristin, please cover the topic of "actively writing", the header for the Harlequin letter. Even tho not actively writing, those books are out there and reissued regularly, plus bundled. That 15% in lieu of the 50% our older contracts covered of Cover price, is a big bite.

I like the cheap backlists because it allows me to replace books I've already read and loaned out and loved, or in a few cases, worn out with love over the years. It doesn't hurt new sales from me at all - I'm more likely to snag a new book from an author I love than to snag a backlist title from an author I'm not as familiar with, when given the choice, even if the dollar difference is substantial.

I'm an Australian writer and we haven't yet seen the same shift toward e-books that the US has seen. I'll be interested to see how it unfolds. Right now, I can't imagine having the same love affair with a novel on a kindle as I do with the rustling pages. Then again, I used to think facebook was a load of c#4p, and now I am a self-proclaimed convert.

I like the idea of 99cent reads though. Who doesn't?

As a reader, the only time I'd always choose a backlisted book over a new release is when I'm picking up part of a series. The price wouldn't really be an issue.

A low-cost backlist cannot poach me from a new release I want. An overpriced new release, however, will cause me to wait and spend time reading the more affordable backlists.

While I don’t read romance and so I can’t comment on that particular genre, I can say that for what I read, the reasonably priced backlist titles are a huge draw. I’m much more likely to give a new author a try at the $2.99 (or less) price point then I am at $7.99 or above. And if I like the backlist title, I’m much more likely to pick up the more expensive ones. I bet I’m not the only one out there with this point of view too, so I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that not only do they not poach sales but most likely spur them. Of course I could be wrong, I have no empirical data to prove anything.

Also @ Sally Hepworth, I used to think the exact same thing. Then I gave a Kindle a try and realized that it had nothing to do with the actual paper, that I loved books for their content and the format held little to no intrinsic value for me. Plus because I get eyestrain, ebooks are easier to read.

As a reader, I wish I could say I had a pattern. But I don't have one when I'm buying e-books.

The only thing I keep in mind is how much I won't spend. In other words, there's probably no way I'd spend over fifteen dollars for any e-book. And the ideal price point for me is between four and ten dollars.

I honestly still haven't purchased anything for .99...and I have a few of my own older books with one publisher being sold for .99. It's just a mental block for me. I see .99 and I think old, tired, something's wrong with it.

The ever increasing reality is that ebooks, backlisted or new indie-published, are poaching sales from Legacy-published ebooks. $10-15 for an ebook = too much.

I think cheaper backlist titles make sense, especially in romance since many are part of a series. If I got a deal on book 1 and 2 of a hot trilogy, I'd be more compelled to fork out full price for book 3.

How topical! I just purchased a backlist fantasy title last night (in this case, $1.99 for Kevin J. Anderson's "The Edge of the World").

I think this strategy works especially well for a series of books, in order to get readers who find out about it later an incentive to catch up. I discovered this deal from Kevin's email newsletter, so chalk up a sale to him for some good self-promotion as well.

What Brooklyn Ann and Jason Hough said -- several times one cheap backlisted ebook in a series has gotten me to fork out for the newer books in the series.

Though it annoys me when the new books aren't in e-format! Grr!

If one or two people start pricing e-books at .99 it's going to become a trend, and eventually it's crossing into dangerous territory. We all have competition, especially in romance. And if all romance e-books start going as low as .99 no one wins. This is why authors and people in publishing aren't always the best business people. This is why the oil companies are laughing at the publishing industry right now. So those who think they are being clever business people by pricing their books at .99, might be shooting themselves in the butt.

A backlisted book priced low would not prevent me from buying a new release. I'd probably buy both.

I'm not a romance reader, but a cheap backlist title has never prevented me from buying the frontlist one. Usually I'm searching for that recent title anyway! If the backlist title is really cheap, or even if it's not and it's just something I had wanted to read, I'll buy both and be super-psyched about the deal.

I think it makes sense, especially if you have to buy the new higher-priced title to get the cheaper one. I'd probably be more likely to buy an extra title or two at that price.

If I really like an author I'll hunt Abebooks for back titles. Having an author's backlist in E-reads would make me happy. I wish some database had the backlists of publishers, especially paperback imprints.

I read Kris Riggle's book as a new release in print, but was excited to add the .99 version to my Nook after she mentioned it--now I can't wait to read the new one after reading the included excerpt included, and I'm much likelier to buy it ASAP. I think people usually buy backlist in used bookstores or just check them out from the library. If they're less expensive, the author might get the sale instead! Seems like a win/win to me.

Also in regard to inexpensive backlist ebooks, I made an interesting transition this week. I'd already purchased Pat Conroy's PRINCE OF TIDES in mass market paperback. I started reading it (I know, how have I lived this long without reading it?), but was frustrated with the tiny size of the book and the font. I hopped on my Nook to see how much the ebook was--$2.99! I now own two copies. I'm reading the ebook.

Agents will, for quite some time, maintain that 'legacy' knowledge - where and how to promote, what book fairs and festivals are best, what the press look for etc.

This is knowledge that is built by experience. As a writer, I want someone with experience in my corner - someone who knows the pitfalls and can deal with the doublespeak! I can't imagine the value of that going away no matter what the format.

Agents also have experience helping authors grow their careers by making informed choices about the projects they tackle. I, for one, would value that experience highly.

Marketing, marketing, and more marketing.

It's the real value of a "traditional" publisher, well, that and distribution. But since in a PoD and Digital world, distribution is much, much less important, marketing becomes the value and the reason I'd happily give away 15% of sales to an Agent, E-stributor, Manager, E-Publisher or whatever moniker you want to apply, if that person could get the word out about my book.

Marketing is what costs the money and takes the expertise. Plus, it's all up-front money before you've made any money off of selling the book. Who's going to front you that kind of money? There's big risk involved. Those who take the risk also get to garner the rewards.

So, publishers of some sort are still going to be needed if you want to get noticed, especially as a new author.

I think that boutique literary agencies are in a perfect position to become what Joe above is called a E-stributors. You already know how to find the good, solid projects. You already know how to help authors edit their projects to make them stronger. You already know how to sell those projects--to editors, mostly, but the same knowledge can be used to pitch to the public.

You could simply create new positions in your agency to handle the extra tasks like marketing and cover art. Ta da, you're ready to publish your own clients.

The future looks pretty cool to me.

-Kali

I know for me, personally, if I were going the self/indie publishing route I could handle the website, social media, formatting, and cover design.

What I would find an agent most useful for would be:

1) Editing
2) Shopping film rights and negotiating those contracts
3) General career strategy
4) Additional publicity/marketing like speaking engagements, appearances, getting reviews, etc.

What I'm *more* interested in is the question of what happens to the agent's cut in a world where there are no advances and all earnings are based on sales. I can't imagine asking an agent to work for 15% of unknown future earnings.

I imagine writers would have to be willing to pay some kind of up front fee, for the editing if nothing else.

Well, aside from all the wonderful things you do already...

In an all digital world, it's going to be all about the marketing. Which leads me to one of the things that would make an agency/E-stributor stand out.

Their blog/website/online presence.

And if I may say so, you're getting a good head start in that department Ms. Nelson :)

Honestly, sometimes I think agents reach more readers through their blogs and twitter feeds than publishers do via traditional distribution channels. If nothing else, the buzz is certainly more immediate.

I think this is all fascinating. Always learning, always enjoying these topics.

And yes, things are changing and you can't deny it.

lac582 has hit my initial reaction right on the nose.

I will also add (as I've discussed with fellow writers), that agents could become "brands," whose reputation will help to curate self-published authors. Amanda Hocking's success is astounding, but I'm sure garnering the attention of Steven Axelrod further legitimized her career within the industry (would a publisher approach her with a $1-2 million deal without an agent like Axelrod?).

Since I'm on this blog, I can also point to the Nelson Agency, which has a reputation for representing a number of critically and commercially acclaimed historical romance, SF/F, and YA authors. If one day, Kristin or Sara were wowed by a self-published author and took them on as a client, everyone would take notice of their books because NLA's reputation for high quality is so solid.

I don't think agents will disappear, and I also think the changing landscape is rife with unlimited possibilities for authors and agents.

If I were to pursue a E-stributor/agent, my expectation would be for them to take over the traditional role of of publisher. Editing (on all levels), CoverArt, Legalities (a good lot of which the agent already handles now), marketing, and publicity, along with all the traditional roles the agent currently carries.

However a 15% model would be based on gross sales, so the e-stributor would be making quite a bit more money as well (to hopefully cover costs).

I like this idea. From my point of view, it gives more control of revenue (and decision making) to me. However, what I'd lose is having someone representing solely my interests. An E-stributor would always be divided between what was best for them vs. best for the author.

I'd also expect a whole ton of fraud as agencies move from one to the other. (not from reputable agencies. There are just so many out there already that are NOT reputable.)

You bring up good points, Lehcarjt. We can expect the scams, for sure.

To the comments above (and I think contracts lingo, marketing, and foriegn/media sales should be repeated) I have to add forsight as to where the market is going. My guess is there will still be hot trends, because people get on a reading kick and want 'more like that one'. Agents who could still see trends coming and guide their authors' careers would be worth their weight in gold.

I would be surprised if you could provide all those services on only 15%. The marketing/sales channel is worth %50 in industries at this price point.

Epublishers are mostly a 60-40 split right now, which seems more likely.

I'd also be surprised if you could offer all those services for 15%, especially with the risk of poor sales. You couldn't afford to pay in house editors, designers, and everyone else. I guess you could have a sliding contract, once a certain sales figure has been reached the split comes back to 15%. Do you ask writers to pay for editing and design? I would pay, but I can afford to. I'd expect agents to match my work with the right editor, designer, publicist, and distributer/market.

There's a site up now that will format and distribute ebooks to all the different vendors...for 17%. And that doesn't include editing or cover art or marketing. Just distribution.

I had the same thought as MCPlanck. And considering the majority of self-pubbed ebooks earn very, very little...well, I can't see anyone sane doing all of that for 15% of whatever, especially when "whatever" could be a ridiculously low number.

This is just me, personally, but I'd willingly pay someone 52.5% to not have to deal with all that other crap. I'm a writer, not a business manager, artist, public relations expert.

I also don't understand why some people always want to make it an either/or situation. There are plenty of actors and musicians and filmmakers out there who do indie projects as well as commercial projects. There's no shame in going after a traditional deal and doing some indie stuff on the side (or vice versa).

Smart agents will become Epublishers and authors will want them, not so much for marketing which is so self generated these days, but because of the heft the name of the agency holds and will therefore give their own book.
Barry and Joe are in agreement that even a full page ad in the NY Times, booking signings etc are nothing compared to word of mouth, good reviews and the platform you have prepared for yourself i.e. blog, twitter. I would love to see an agency providing blog design and helping clueless writers launch in social media.

Publicity. Most writers can handle their own editing, line-editing, jacket copy, and we know how to hire a cover artist. But most of the writers I know are stumped by publicity, how to get word out there, and so on.

Actually, this would be a cool experiment for an agency.

Create a sub-agency who starts a collection of cover artists, editors, etc. that work on spec.

This sub-agency would focus on digital print, but will help facilitate POD of those titles. This sub-agency would also work in social network marketing and sell foreign rights. Finally, the agency would handle accounting.

The question is: will agents become the "publishers" at this point? A multitude of small presses?

I wonder if this model would work. I find it fascinating and I could see the agent percentage being the higher since they would take on more of the work of marketing and "production."

This would bring more money through to agencies and authors.

The way I see it, an agent's like an author's second brain. The agent provides that fresh look at a manuscript and handles things like contracts and royalty statements and all so authors don't have to know all of it. The agent has already been through the hoops and has contacts from those previous times. (Or is developing contacts that another client will be able to take advantage of, later.)

Why would that have to change for self-publishing? Sure, a writer might be able to figure out all the distribution stuff herself, but an agent who kept an eye on distributor news could cue a writer in when "Hey, have you checked out this one over here?" and "Uh-oh, this one looks like you wanna pull out."

And agents' relationships with others in the publishing industry will still be handy. Refer the author to specific editors and graphic designers that you know are good to work with. Use your contacts with that book review blog that liked Big-Name Author to try to get Comparable Author reviewed.

Some agents will likely also become publishers themselves and offer clients ISBNs.

I can see a downside to this, though. Contracts would have to both protect the agent from authors who would drop them as soon as sales started picking up from the agent's efforts, yet leave the author room to drop a bad agent. I could see agents changing the way they're paid to avoid that.

But perhaps I'm just delusional about what exactly an agent does all day. :)

Ok, I know I may be in the minority here, but I'd probably pay more than 15% if an agency really DID all those and did them well. I'm really not trying to be rude, but to say, as Jane did, that authors can "handle" editing and copyediting themselves is a bit naive. No one can do this themselves. We NEED other people's eyes, and not just beta readers, no matter how awesome they are (I <3 mine!). Even if you hire an editor, you still have to pay them upfront with capital you may not have.

If an agent is truly has editorial skill, and does this with no up-front cost to the author (current model), plus does the publicity, marketing, and logistics of e-book distribution, then I'd say they've well earned 20 or 25% at least. As Jane said, publicity is the one thing authors really, really need help on. If an agency/e-publisher combo can provide truly effective publicity, then great. What happens then is that certain agencies become the new "big six."

There are a couple of good points here that were touched on.

The first is scams. There is a very good reason why there currently is a division between publisher and agent. The agent is on your team. The publisher, notsomuch. Yes, everybody wants to sell tons of books, but the publisher is going to try to milk as much percentage out of that as they can. How often have we seen Kristen post about contract clauses that take something from the writer? If you combine agent/publisher into an all-in-one epublisher, where's the protections that are inherent in the writer/agent/publisher system?

The second point is marketing, again. People that are good at marketing take that on as their primary career. People who are good at writing take on writing as their primary career. Writers often do not make good marketers. Do you really want to spend MORE of your time with tasks that are not directly related to writing? Just a thought.

As for writer's blogs and agent blogs, do any of you really think those things are a viable mass-market media outlet for potential readers (stress readers -- not aspiring writers)? 90% of writer blogs out there are tips on writing. That's not going to interest most readers. Most agent blogs are about the trade, again, not interesting to readers. And, most importantly, they're passive. You have to go out looking for them to find them. Readers won't do that. Real marketing must be used to grab readers who don't know who you are already.

I completely agree with Eric on both the scams and the conflict of interest - author's do need someone to protect them, that is where too many scams could enter into this.

It would be interesting to see some actual prices on editing, cover art, etc.. As an unpubbed, I have very little idea of how much that costs. Clearly, the E-stributor % would have to be high enough to cover it all. And I have no problem with going above 15% - and really like the idea of a sliding scale.

I'd also imagine that E-stributors would have to be quite selective in taking on new client because they DO have to cover costs and won't (especially at first) have the huge author base (as the big six do) to take risks.

It's also interesting to note how varied we as authors are. I've got a background in marketing and already have a plan for how I'd like to market my book (when I finish). I don't *think* I need much help with that. I wouldn't touch editing on my own though and having seen numerous home-done cover art (kiss of death for so many books) I wouldn't touch that myself (and I've got a background in graphic design too).

I find the assumption that traditional publishers won't survive the changes in publishing arrogant. I also find the assumption that writers won't need agents in the future arrogant. That attitude belittles the services both currently provide.

With over 700,000 self-published titles this year alone, it's difficult to stand out in the self-publishing crowd. And on the other side, the 200,000+ tradionally published titles struggle to stand out--with backing of agents and editors. How do writers without any marketing or editing skills honestly believe they will do better on their own?

I'm skeptical of the hoopla surrounding self-publishing right now.

Well, the first thing that has to change is the way that agents are paid. I have to throw away that 15% commission and pay the agent a flat fee or salary. If agents aren't in sales, then why pay them a sales commission?

In the near future, I think agents will become project managers/sourcing experts, rather than salesmen. What writers will want is someone to find them good freelance editors, good cover artists, and good folks to layout their books in the different eBook formats. Then, writers will want the agent to help manage those people temporarily, book per book.

Agents or whatever we'll call them in the future will be temp project managers. And this will be only after the author has made enough money to afford them in the first place.

In this case, the author has transformed into a mini corporation with a handful of temporary employees.

But before the author reaches that point, the author will need to find these resources on their own and project manage them on their own, so authors will need to learn some more skills besides just writing books.

What he said ^^^^

I think 15% forever is criminal. Flat fee makes far more sense. Would I have a guy paint my house before I sell it to make it look good and then give him 15% of the money I get?? No, I pay him his fee and move on.

Imagine this scenario. You hire this new fangled agent/estributer, they edit, promote etc and fail. You fire them, so some self promo and see sales increase. They still get 15% of your new sales. Does that make sense? Or is it better to pay them a fee and if they fail you pay someone else to try?

% of sales is a insane deal. The only way I could see it working is if it had a expiration date. Say 15% for the first 1,3,5 whatever years.

Imagine if Joe Konrath was paying people 15% of his book sales to promote and edit. He is on pace to make about 750k this year on ebooks. Why pay 100k+ for someone to do a few weeks of work on your book?? Does that make any sense at all?

I think plat fee would be much better. It also protects agents/e-whatevers. If I were Kristen Nelson would I want to work on a book for weeks and have it sell 12 copies?? 15% of crap is just smaller crap.

Having read the whole article in one sitting. I need to go to the bathroom, but will make a short comment before making my dash. The article made a lot of sense and the two writers have definitely thought the matter out. My daughter who is a teacher just stated to me that she believes before her daughter(a fourth grader) graduates, students will be using digital books. I discuss that matter on my blog but that is not what my comment is about. When the automobile came along things changed. Blacksmiths and buggy makers who adapted not only survived the changes. They thrived. It will be the same for the print industry. Paperbacks are on their way out or will become a print on demand vanity type thing. Some stores will survive, but it will be the innovative ones. Even the NYT has said its printed issue may someday be history. Those who adapt survive, those who don't disappear. Survival of the fittest still is the rule. The trick is to evolve before your buried alive.

I can certainly see agents offering editing and marketing services and film deals, and perhaps foreign translations for 15-20%.

Yep, some books will be a waste of time, but that's not much different to the current situation with print, it seems to me.

I don't agree about the flat fee. If the agent takes on the role of publisher (including the job of marketing the work), why shouldn't they get a percentage of sales the way traditional publishers do now? Otherwise, the agent is nothing more than someone you'd hire to (digitally) print your book, i.e., Lulu or similar.

If you want your E-stributor to really work for you in getting your work before its audience and developing your career, there has to be some incentive for ongoing effort, don't you think?

Agents still need to be the purveyors of what they believe to be excellent work regardless of the publishing medium. I would hate to see flat fees become the norm, because then agents would have every incentive to just take on more and more clients without regard to quality.

That said, I think agents will have to start offering different services for authors intending to self-publish as a long-term career choice. Services like access to the best editors, designers, etc. In those instances, I can see a combination of an up-front fee to broker those services plus a percentage of sales. Whether 15% is still going to be the right number, who can say?

I do agree with what others have said that it's an exciting time for both authors and agents who are willing to embrace the changes and continue to put their best work out there.

As I see it the overall concept of the writer/agent relationship doesn't change. Under the traditional model I would pay an agent a fee (15%) to assist in packaging my product (a book) and present it to buyers (publishing houses). Under e-publishing I would pay an agent (fee TBD) to package my product and present it to buyers (readers). Just because in e-publishing I have the option of packaging and presenting to buyers myself doesn't change my relationship with an agent should my book be worthy enough to obtain said agent and we decide that e-publishing is the best way to market it.

I see the potential for win-win-win in an agency model that offers e-publishing services in addition to traditional publishing representation.

The author would get technical internet expertise in web site, blog, twitter and other templates that should be plug & play (I have no desire to learn HTML) as well as editing, e-publish marketing, legal consultation and other traditional services that make an agent worth her 15%.

The agent would be able to take on clients she might otherwise have to reject. Say, just to pick an example, she reads a 200,000 word manuscript she thinks is magnificent, but she knows that there isn't a single paper publisher she can sell it to. She might well think it worth her time and effort to offer representation on an e-publishing model, provide the templates, plug it on her blog, and if the proverbial little snowball achieves critical mass it may turn into a big snowball with it's own momentum, or even a Hocking-sized avalanche that will result in an auction for print rights.

For readers the benefit might be brand recognition that enables them to avoid wading through mountains of 99 cent drivel to find a quality read. The listing on Amazon might be something like 'WONDERFUL NOVEL, a Pub Rants Title', and the 'Pub Rants' association may, with time, gain traction with the e-reading public as a label that only offers quality e-books.

Pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps is a great thing and I salute Amanda Hocking, but I have little or no interest in the time requirements - I already must find time for my writing after my job, family and friend commitments.

I would love to receive an offer of representation from an agency that has the capability of saying something like, "We love your book and we think e-publishing is best for it, here's why, and this is what we can do for you and your work in the e-pub arena."

I would happily sign a fair agency agreement with appropriate fees for such representation.

@ Anon at 6:18 PM:

If you read the full transcript, he paid a total of $600 of upfront costs. This goes further to show that percent of sales is not a good economic decision.

Here is the relevant link and quote:

http://barryeisler.blogspot.com/2011/03/ebooks-and-self-publishing-conversation.html

"Barry: Well, it’s early yet, but yes, The Lost Coast has done amazingly well in its first few weeks, netting me about $1000 after the initial fixed cost of $600 for having the cover designed and having the manuscript formatted."

Anon, that $600 is cover and formatting; it's not editing.

That's all very well for an experienced writer like Eisler because it means he may have done all the line editing, story editing and proofreading himself, which is not ideal but possible.

If you can get that done professionally for under several thousand dollars for a 100k word novel, good luck.

In any case, the agent's real value would be in rights and marketing, in my view.

I second the fact that an agent in a digital age could command more than 15%, especially if she is taking on the tasks a traditional publishing house used to do.

Here's a question for you: Would you consider representing an author who wanted to exclusively "self publish" or POD?

Just as they, whoever they are, are all raving about the opportunity writers have right now to shape the eBook and self-publishing model, agents have an equal opportunity to grab the bull by the horns.

I find this very interesting, considering that I've been moving my business model away from simply hosting web fiction and serials to being this exact kind of E-publisher in the last few months. I'm working as my author's editor, designer, marketer, I handled advertising, both of their story, and on their website, and I'm doing ebook design and soon release as they finish their serials. I think the only thing I'm NOT capable or knowledgeable enough to do is the agent work, representing their works in other fields (movie's, ect. ) So, I have an interesting question that is similar, yet different, from the ones given here. Would any agent be willing to be the in house agent for a small publishing label?

I have some problems with E-distributor flat fees.

It seems like the expectation is that these fees will be low. I'd love to see actual production numbers. I haven't yet (although when I have time I'll see if I can find some). My guess is that they will be bare minimum of $10K and likely over $20K (not including marketing). Manpower is expensive and editing/copy editing/artwork, etc. is all specialized and intensive. (How many hours does it take to copyedit a 100K book? In order to make a living after overhead, I’d imagine a copy editor has to charge at least $75 - $100 an hour.)

In a flat fee system, the fees would be expected to be paid up front.

I'd guess most writers (especially newbies, but also some midlsters) can't afford to pay upfront (JK Rowling wouldn't have been able to do so in the beginning). A writer without the cash on hand will need someone to back them and assume the risk that investing in their story will pay out. Flat feers are not going to do it - they have no reason to. An Estributor working on a percentage basis could do this. They are motivated to take on the costs and risk of the book flopping because of the gains they would make if the book is a run-away bestseller (which is what the traditional publishers do now).

It’s a trade-off for the writer, but one that is necessary for those not independently wealthy (much like startups going to venture capitalists).

I have no doubt that (in this pretend system that doesn’t yet exist) there will be Estributors that do it for the flat fee and there will be writers that can/will pay. Estributors on a flat fee basis have no reason to worry about little things like a writer’s skill, career longevity, etc. None of it matters as long as they keep getting their flat fees.

Lehcarjt said...
Estributors on a flat fee basis have no reason to worry about little things like a writer’s skill, career longevity, etc. None of it matters as long as they keep getting their flat fees.



And I hope those companies go out of business so badly their grandchildren shudder when looking at books.

Hurrah for this ruling!

Scott Turow's comment is the best -- recognizing that we have the wonderful opportunity now to provide access to otherwise out of print books. I guess for now it's a matter of figuring out how exactly that's going to happen -- I love the judge's comments and how thorough they are. Very excited about where this might go.

Wow! Between Judge Chin's rejection today and the Supremes refusing to overturn the Eminem case yesterday, I have hope that the justice system will actually enforce artist's rights.

Fascinating. My former employer closed our library because "everything is going to be available on Google". I found their wholesale copying, without permission, to be horrifyingly arrogant (as Judge Chin quotes, their attitude has been "so sue me.")
I hope they convert to an opt-in and this does not end up at the mercy of Congress, because Google can afford to pay lots of lobbyists, and it is unlikely Congress will devote the care and attention to the rights of artists that Judge Chin has.

Regarding moving to digital, a great read, I'm wondering how agents will transition into the digital world. Konrath talks about E-stributors who would then work for a 15% fee, but would in the process handle marketing for digital authors.

Could you see yourself doing this? Working on book covers, jacket copy, even web presence and all of that?

Also Konrath mentioned selling one of his short stories on Amazon and making about $30,000 in a year. Amazing.

But my question comes at price point. When we are talking impulse buys, does quantity matter? If a short story is short but sweet can it stand to be priced at $.99 next to a novel?

I wonder how buyers would react to that?

Despite fariness in the market place (other companies wanting to steal copyrigted work as if it were public domain and profit from it), "opt in" is the only reasonable protection of an author's copyright. I own my out-of-print books and when I die all google has to do is pretend they couldn't get in touch with my heirs and they can steal my books for their OWN profit. This would make copyright meaningless in the U.S. Thank you, Judge Chin. God bless you, Judge Chin.

This court case, the rise of e-readers - it's all making me think long and hard about what it means to be a writer, and the relationship between form and content. I think I'm okay with transition in writing formats (I think). I've always written, always will, so I'm obviously going to have to cultivate some flexibility in order to survive in the future.

But rights... that's essentially the foundation of how writers make a living. I don't feel so flexible on that.

Well, so much for Eisler's fans who don't want to buy a Kindle or an iPad, but a hard copy book. And so much for the libraries...

A stunning reversal! I'm glad to see Chin's ruling. Opt-in is what it should've been from the very beginning. And I'm excited to hear about Amanda Hocking's huge new publishing deal. :) Looking forward to what the books are about!

I'll be interested to see how things work out for Eisler. He'll likely see his PB sales drop (esp. if they're only available as a POD online order, though that doesn't mean libraries/bookstores couldn't still order), but within a couple of years, the ebook market will likely continue to grow as it has been. Half a million is a lot, but he's given himself a lot of freedom to experiment as he pleases.

Absolutely, which is why this is the kind of thing that the LOC should be doing, not Google. Just because Google chose to do it doesn't mean they should be allowed to claim the copyrighted works of others as their own to sell as they like.

Hi there Kristin! I have a question for you (given the status of this post) and I understand if you don't have time to answer it, but it's something I've been very curious about.

If you self-publish through Amazon like Hocking, can you still attempt to query agents with the novel? I would think that Hocking was offered the deal because of her success, but if a novel had moderate success could you take it off the Kindle market and attempt to land an agent for the project?

Thank you for your time!

Kristin, I'm glad you addressed this topic. I read an article in the "Huffington Post" written by the founder of Smashwords that was a tad bit over-encouraging, to say the least. I have thoughts on this issue. Deep thoughts, in fact. I started writing with a major magazine. Not online; print. I feel like I've paid my dues. I believe that every writer should first try the conventional route of publishing. If their m.s. is given a pass, that perhaps signals the need to solicit objective opinions on exactly *why.* It could be all those, you know, dangling participles and noun-verb disagreements! :)

I'll be blunt: Novels with glaring spelling and grammatical errors make my brain hurt. So do those that lack structure and form. There is a certain bar to which every writer should hold him/herself. I am held to certain standards in my profession, and if I don't meet them, I either don't get paid, or I'm fired from a project. But, a lot of self-published are not their own gatekeepers. Good marketing will get you everywhere. The Barnum wannabes who put up all of those acai berry diet pill websites amassed a tidy $30 million before the FTC gave them the banhammer. Quality of marketing and quality of product should never be confused.

The reason I don't have an e-Reader is because if a book is in print, I know that it's at least undergone rigorous editing. I'm sure there are a few writers who self-publish who are truly amazing, but were passed over simply because they didn't have a good query -- or the market for their m.s. was too niche. But sorting through self-published novels to find the few gold nuggets amongst the pyrite is something I don't have time for.

I thought Amanda's post was great. I'm traditionally pubbed and have found it interesting to hear discussions where other writers imply you must be insane to stay with a publisher when you could go it alone and KEEP IT ALL.

There aren't any short cuts to publishing success and no guarantees any way you go. Each writer has to make their own decision and remember at the end of the day the publishing process is only the medium by which the story is delivered, what really matters to readers is the story.

I'm very glad you brought up this point. It makes me SOO mad when I hear people calling self-publishing the easy way to money or the easy way out. As an Indie author, I sweat blood over every one of my sales! It is damn hard work! Thankfully it's all starting to pay off and my e-sales have gone NUTS in the UK (now there's the mystery as I'm in the US).

Thanks for a great post, Kristin. This is a fascinating issue. I've published a number of short stories at good rates and even some nonfiction in glossy magazines. I'm currently in pursuit of a traditional publishing career. But, of late I've considered epublishing a manuscript I know would be hard to shelve, as it slides between categories. While considering this question and researching, I've been surprised at the level of emotion many authors bring to the question. It's my opinion that where and how one will publish should be a business question, with each option considered carefully and weighed in the balance.

From most people's perspective, writing a best-seller is about as likely as buying the winning lottery ticket.

So along comes a guy who offers to sell you lottery tickets for free.

No, wait - for the small fee of a few hundred dollars, he shows you how to print your own lottery tickets.

How can you lose? :D :D :D

The idea of self-publishing terrifies me, for exactly the reasons Amanda mentions as being such a large source of stress for her. I don't think there's really any specific formula for the level of success she's enjoying. It was just the right combination of chance, talent, readership, and lots of hard work, just like in traditional publishing.

That said, I'm immensely happy for her and hope I can be as successful one day.

Thanks for sharing this. Because even though some do well self- publishing, like you said, it's a lot of work in terms of marketing.

I can't imagine having that much success doing it all yourself. I'm simply not organized enough to pull that off.

Yes, I read her post too and was over the moon to learn she advocated learning how to write, and that it wasn't easy to get where she was. People think you can sit down at a computer and bang out a novel worth publishing. I hope this opens their eyes. Writing isn't easy.

I work at a library, and my boss, who the Electronic Resource Librarian mentioned how I should just publish my book myself through amazon, as an ebook.

I couldn't believe she didn't understand the amount of marketing and networking I'd have to do if I went that route. She said that I'd have a bunch of librarians behind me to promote me. Well that's fine that the librarians at my work want to promote me, but it has to be WAY bigger than that.

Basically, I'd have to quit my job at the library so I can spend all day every day promoting myself. And even then, I probably wouldn't make the big bucks. Not that I'm focused on that- I just don't have the time to do as much marketing you have to do if you self publish.

Hey, I really appreciated this post. I especially appreciated Amanda's thoughts on the whole situation. Thanks for including that link.

I read Amanda's blog post yesterday and loved it. I think she nailed it.

I think the strike-it-rich perception of self-pubilshing that seems to be becoming more prevalent with the advent of Kindle, etc. is in part a result of writer frustration. Frustration with the current market--whether it's with what's trending or whatever (example, I know a LOT of previously published authors, several award-winning or nominated within their genre, who have lost contracts because NYC doesn't want them anymore, primarily due to changes in the market). It's easy to play negative with the "gatekeepers" when you feel like you're knocking your head against a brick wall. In fact, it's probably cathartic for some writers.

Thanks for your post. This has been all over the blogosphere and it's just insane. I have read a lot of the comments - agreeing and disagreeing, the pros and cons, but then I read Amanda's painfully honest post. (Thanks for sharing her link) I think everyone should read it. It's eye-opening. It hasn't been as easy for her as everyone thinks. She's quite a lady, and I am thrilled for her.

I think the people that think self-publishing is the "easy" route also probably thought that going traditionally would be easy, and when the work got too tough, they bailed. These are people who will not write professionally. It takes time and energy just to write a seriously good book, much less publish it, no matter what route you go. Do you think James Patterson works any less hard than Ms. Hocking, just because he's a top-tiere author? The guy is a machine. No publishing house is going to WRITE the book for you. They won't GO OUT on the book tours they send you on. They will want you to know how to market yourself AND write a book; be a person of business AND an author.

Self-pub, I seems to me, is for those that understand hard work will come with either avenue. For those of us who want to see more of the money from our efforts, self-pub is not a terrible way to go about it.

I heard a program with Konrath as a guest, and he reiterated time and again that, even when self-publishing, a book MUST be well-written, well-edited, and it must have an inviting cover image. He even listed a couple of successful kindle-exclusive authors who pulled in over $100k in one year to prove his point.

The fact is, bad writing won't be as successful as great, polished writing.

Re: "We honestly don’t know why that sometimes occurs; and even more telling, why it sometimes doesn’t occur—even for some really good books."

I don't see too much of a mystery -- but then again, I sometimes have to write ad copy to make a living, so I have to keep abreast of trends. Hocking used the "Twilight" same plot arc in her vampire series. The titles of the books are one highly evocative word. The way she packaged them is highly reflective of the "Twilight" trade dress. When I saw the Hocking eBooks on Amazon -- and this was long before the story broke -- at first blush, I truly did think that she was also a published author markedly similar to Stephenie Meyer. But, her books were much cheaper and available for instant download. Now, that's marketing genius, whether Hocking herself is aware of it or not. Tweens want books *just like "Twilight."*

I think people (writers) invest too much in these stories because we're all dreamers at heart. We know it's a tough market to get into, and we want to believe that we can do it on our own, easily, and succeed at it without having to face the rejecion inherent in the traditional publishing process. We latch on to any story that will allow us to do that, forgetting that these authors are statistical anomalies and there are slews of authors who have only sold a few copies, if any, by self-publishing. We ignore that authors like Konrath and Doctorow had been traditionally published before and already had a name built up.

Hocking et al. prove that one can succeed by self-publishing, but it's an endeavor that still requires a lot of work and probably more luck than we expect. Nobody should give up for that reason, but if an author decides to self-publish, he or she should go in with realistic expectations and the knowledge that there is a lot of work to it.

My burning question is how the publishing industry will respond if more and more readers start turning to cheap eBooks. I see this as a wonderful opportunity for agents and publishing houses to carve out a niche of their own in which more new writers can enter the digital marketplace. Why not form a consortium and create a digital platform similar to Amazon where e-authors are showcased?

Thank you so much for posting this. I was ready to write Amanda Hocking off as a Stephenie Meyer type fluke (yes, still the lottery, but my Meyer opinions are not particularly charitable) but I think Hocking is AMAZING for seeing it and calling it like it is.

Fabulous post and oh so true. I'm so happy to see you say this - hubby and I have been having this same conversation over glasses of wine - lol!

For anyone considering self publishing I would suggest a book called THE TIPPING POINT by Malcolm Gladwell. It explains human nature and how you get a product like the return of Hush Puppies, Cabbage Patch Dolls and others to reach that critical mass like TWILIGHT did. I personally liked the twilight series—I know, I know—I can’t help it. But it explains the frantic frenzy you have to reach to get something over the top. I think that is what Amanda is talking about on her Blog. I want an agent. Just one posting about eBooks, overseas rights, movie-other types of media etc---Yikes—you really need someone to help. Plus, who of us has made it big without the advice of someone? Seems to me the adage two heads are better than one still applies.

"The Tipping Point" is indeed an excellent book. But, if you want a realistic perspective on how things go viral on the Internet, there are forums where you can barter whatever services you have to offer (e.g., eBook formatting, website design) to a black hatter in return for scurrilous methods of getting what you have to promote to said tipping point. They call this "marketing;" I call it "gaming the system." Ugh.

There is no question that being successful in publishing needs a lot of hard work, and still there are no guarantees. However, a writer should not be discouraged and keep writing.

This is so exciting! Looks like ebooks may be something to be celebrated, not feared :D

Your iPod update made me laugh, because my 6-yo son and his friends think the song is called "Your Socks Are on Fire." They belt it out and it makes me smile--if only this innocence lasted longer. :)

Both my mom and I got ebook readers for Christmas; I'm a die-hard library user (libraries are still struggling to get ebooks), and my mom's a technophobe. If we've got them, the tipping point is definitely here! I'm actually surprised by how much I enjoy reading on my iPad; something about it is just relaxing.

Hurrah! Unfortunately I've heard that writers actually get less from ebook sales than from non-digital sales, which makes me sad, since producing and distributing an ebook is cheaper, but writing it isn't! (Is it true that royalties on digital stuff are less, and is there a good reason for this happening?)

Of course, that doesn't mean I don't love my nook - I just do it with a bit more shame.

I got my first kindle last year. I never noticed anyone else reading one in public. Last week, I took my kids to the park and was shocked to see three or four other ereaders being flash around. And two or three people came up to me as I was reading mine to ask about it and mention they were thinking of getting one. Definitely a sea change.

A tingle went down my back and I thought that in a thousand years, historians will be speculating what it was like to live through this transition.

Tara Maya
The Unfinished Song: Initiate

Interesting news!

@Amy - I can't speak for other authors but I make a lot more per ebook sale than I do for my print sales.

That said, my ebook sales have been minuscule in past royalty statements. We'll see what the next one (due in June) holds.

Cheers!

Yep - I got my Kindle for Christmas...it's addicting to purchase books so easily. My Kindle library is already stocked past 1,200!

While I'm a die-hard physical book lover as a reader, if e-readers are causing this much of an upswing in sales for publishers, they can only be a good thing.

It was hard for me to finally break down and buy an ereader. I think I only did it because it intrigued my husband and he wanted me to have one. Well, anything that has my husband actually encouraging my reading habit was a plus...so we got one. However, for some reason when I purchase e books I never really feel like their mine. I know that's odd. I mean, I feel like the file is mine. I know I paid for it, but It does not fulfill the part of me that likes to stack, shelve, and admire my books. Needless to say, I still buy more "real" books than ebooks which really annoys my husband! :)

I have heard-from others of course- that ereaders are convenient for purchasing those books with less than "public friendly" covers. But I know nothing about that!! (wink)

Lord, please forgive my completely obvious misuse of the word THEIR! Yikes. Nothing like bad grammar on pub rants!

I can tell you I wanted an Ereader for Christmas(I'm tired of using the kindle app on my phone,the screen is just too small), but money being tight I didn't bother seriously asking for it. Congratulations on being caught up, I can't imagine how rare that is.

Totally - but I admit that I was already ahead of the curve on that one :) But the eBook market is BOOMING and making its niche quite nicely. Publishers using e-galleys that expire on or near the release date. Even libraries are lending e-books with the caveat that you'll never have a late fee! It's remarkable, but I truly hope that books continue to be on print because I love holding the book in hand and seeing what covers are designed next!

I'm curious to see how e-books will change the industry and whether more authors will consider self publishing. Also - from a personal perspective, how do you think the shift to e-books will affect agents and their role in the publishing process?

Very exciting. Three years ago my agent suggested I publish my book as an ebook and I said no way, but I'm doing it now. I wish I'd listened back then.

I know this discussion is drifting toward e-readers (another sign of the tipping point, perhaps?) but where the Inbox is concerned, I have to take a few seconds to interrupt with--

Congratulations, Kristin! Enjoy the awesome, if utterly ephemeral moment. *grin*

This is sooo true! My e sales have gone CRAZY the last few months since Christmas, I couldn't even believe my UK sales number for last month when I saw it. I was hesitant about getting and E-reader but finally broke down and bought one the other day. Still waiting to get it but excited to try it out. I think we're seeing a change in the way the industry works. It will be interesting to see where things go in the next 5 years or so.

I got a Kindle for Christmas. Two of the ladies in my knitting club both got e-readers. A lot of people in my goodreads group got them as well.

Since then I've been a little frustrated with all the people who think e-readers are evil and e-books the enemy.

For me personally I'm buying more books because I don't have to wait for them or worry about if the bookstore has them. I have trouble seeing how that can be so bad.

Do you see a particular genre/age-group where the e-book sales are doing really well? I'm curious how e-book sales do with kids books, particularly middle-grade. Are you seeing a big shift there too?

So is it good news or bad news for an agent when they are all caught up? This is the first agent post I have ever seen where they aren't busier than Charlie Sheen at a wedding reception with an open bar.

It's not only here, it just turned on the afterburners and hitting Mach 3. At this rate in a year or two it will be escaping the pull of gravity and heading outside the solar system.

It was the gift over the holidays--I got one and LOVE it. I haven't bought a lot on it, but been borrowing books from my local library on it.

That tipping point is defintely here! And while it may be scary for many, I think there's a lot of promise too.

You're right, I think it has caught on!
I think lower price points on the kindle, the release of the ipad, and updated versions of smart phones with kindle and ebook apps have all contributed. I wanted a kindle the second it came out, but I'm not an early adopter. I always wait until at least 2nd gen for the price to go down and the kinks to be worked out.

I bought my first ebook reader in 1998--the Rocket eBook--so I feel I have earned the privilege of smugly boasting: "'Told ya so," to the publishing world.
Not even that history prepared me for the delighted shock when, last August, I re-published my novel, An Uncommon Enemy, as a Kindle edition (originally pubbed by Macmillan in hard cover with little fan fair in 2001) and watched it come back to life, eventually hitting #1 on Amazon's rankings in its genre across all formats, paper or pixel. All thanks to a single positive review on an influential blog.
The power of the Internet and digital publishing so limitless, it is impossible to comprehend, much less predict.
I'm a believer, always have been, always will be. (now own a Kindle and an iPad ).
Michelle Black
Www.TheVictorianWest.com

As an author who bypassed the traditional publishing route altogether and went straight to Kindle, I'm very glad to see the boom in e-reader sales.

Ironically, I have yet to buy one but that day is coming soon because - sad to say - I'm finding the search for what I consider good "paper" books becoming harder and harder.

Rebecca Stroud
The Animal Advocate

P&E endorsed the Rocket eBook reader when it came out. We've also endorsed the Nook.

We believe this will cause books to sell more but it's basically bad news for bookstores because it won't increase their sales.

Authors should be careful. So should agents. Some small publishers are paying to have their ebooks listed on online retailer sites and that's not mentioned in the contract with the author. Basically, they're just holding royalties to pay the site fee in order to have that book listed. Check on that before you sign.

The fiction publishing industry will not be recognisable this time next year.

We haven't seen anything yet.

Note that a high proportion of ebook sales are driven by indie publishers -- and readers don't seem to care.

I was given a Nook in July. My wife kept borrowing it so I bought her Nook in November. My daughter wanted the color one - Christmas; got my sister one as well. My other daughter decided she wanted one (e-ink, not color) after reading several books on her phone and complaining eye strain.

Five nooks in less than 7 months; dug around for software to convert kindle to epub so we can buy books from either seller.

I'm very fond of paper books but the future is ebooks.

I've found that for every book I consider buying at $6.99 and up, there are two or three $2.99 or $0.99 ones that interest me. The ratio of greater-than-$5 to less-than is probably 1:6. Sadly (for authors), most of the less expensive books are self-published or have reverted rights. It's unfortunate publishers insist on such high prices for ebooks.

Another thing that may benefit is that with NOOK you can download software to your PC. You don't have to have the NOOK itself, just a computer to get your hands on tons of titles. You can purchase online and download instantly to your computer. I am addicted! Also, as several others have mentioned paying $6.99 or even $7.99 for instant gratification and the chance to devour your favorite author's latest work is worth it!

Will more authors self publish? Or indie-publish to use the current term?

You might ask newcomers Amanda Hocking or Victorine Leiske. Or maybe midlist writers like Joe Konrath and Dean Wesley Smith.

It might also be worthwhile to take a look at the USA Today bestseller lists for the last several weeks. Just a thought. :)

I think you are right about the tipping point. The future is here.

Echoing the question re: genres seeing a boost in e-book sales. Are some genres NOT seeing generally higher numbers?

thanks for the link AND the jack johnson song!

Thank you for the links!

I keep thinking about self publishing as a potential option, but I discount it -- not because it's not a potential option (it is), but I know that I cannot trust myself to know that my work is ready to be published. I need the acknowledgment of someone else approving my work before I'm willing to ask people pay for it.

Also, it just feels like more of an accomplishment, if I publish something through traditional means.

I read Joe's blog, and have to admit I am excited about his statistics. I can also see the point of the writer's beware article, citing to put in context. But, from my facebook-writer friends, I also know that most of them who self publish on kindle do earn at least bill-paying money every month. That's about 400-600 at least. While it's not much, it is something and it adds up, and might even be the same as a debut advance.

I always hear about all those writers who are unsuccessful on kindle, but I've never seen someone really analyse that data. Let's see what kind of books really are unsuccessful. I bet you will see a lot of info-dump kind of stuff, and not real books.

I think there's a large community of writers who can make it on kindle. Those that work really hard on their manuscripts, make an effort to join critique groups, and even hire an editor will be successful most of the time. Those that find their old journal, or their family's history, or their random rantings on blog posts will not.

I believe in writers who are dedicated to their craft. I believe they will always succeed. I know I sound corny, but that's my opinion.

Thanks for posting the link to that informative blog post. There are a lot of factors that lead to big sales on Kindle or other e-readers, and a major one is promoting and marketing. I don't know how Joe and some of the other writers who are selling so many books have time to do all the promoting and still have time to write. Promoting and marketing skills have become so important to an author's success.

The WB piece was very fair and objective. At least I thought it was.

And I agree. It's going to be another interesting year.

I'm pretty sure it will be a long while before you see only one e-book format. Hardware is always going to respond best to specific software written exclusively for that hardware. That, in turn, will dictate how well specific file formats will work. So, to get the best results on a Kindle, you'll need the Kindle file format, etc.

I don't think it's a big deal as long as the readers have open formats that any publisher can produce. It might be more work for the publisher though since getting the format right isn't a trivial thing.

This is actually great news. More distribution channels and more opportunities.

Yes, but where does Chutney come into this? At first, I thought you were listening to SHEPHERD'S PIE CAROL, which Chutney would probably like too!

'It's also the first eBookstore that's not directly connected to a specific eBook reader.' Music to my ears, and the ears of anybody with a splink of common sense!

Restricted proprietary e-readers will be remembered (or forgotten!) as one of the great red herrings of publishing history. Restricted proprietary e-formats likewise. You're far from alone in your dream, Kristin.

Monopolists have tried to control the means of production for centuries, but trying to control the means of consumption is an even greater insanity, oddly popular with present day internet moguls.

Meanwhile, I've just come up with a great ebook format, which can be used on just about any computer or device. You can change font and page type and size and so on. I call it Rich Text File, or RTF for short. Oh, wait...

Count me as one more waiting for a standard ebook format. I will even be greedy, and add that I'd like to see something that looks good. The Kindle formatting... not so great. The Nook is nicer, as far as formatting goes, and of course, it helps to have color. Though it's not eInk, so you're back to reading from a screen.

I'll dream of one format e-reading too. One can always wish.

The ebook format will likely be determined by consumers. That which is purchased, shall be created. For myself, I have promised only to buy ePub, as I despise proprietary formats. It does mean that a Kindle is never in my future.

In the long run, whatever format sells the most will be the one that lives on. Just like mp3 has become the generic format for music (even if Windows and iTunes would prefer it differently).

There were mp3s and then iTunes came out and AAC was everywhere. Then we got tired of the DRM and Amazon introduced its mp3 store, breaking that monopoly. This time the role of Apple is Amazon itself, with its proprietary file format. epub is considered the standard even though it isn't the primary distribution format at the moment. If the Google Bookstore is as successful as the Amazon mp3 store, epub will become the dominant file format in the future.

What I'm really looking forward to is the freeware that lets me convert my nook books to epub files that I can keep on my own hard drive.

(I am wary of the Google Bookstore, both because of previous copyright issues and because of the public domain titles I have downloaded from them in the past that were poorly formed.)

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Smashwords to you yet, Kristin. They aren't linked to a specific e-reader. In fact, they enable authors to make their books available in ALL the different formats. They've also worked deals to get their books into Sony, Kobo, Diesel, B&N, Amazon, and more to come, I'm sure. I'm hoping for a deal with them and Google books, in fact.

I don't mind single format as long as things are DRM-free so I can convert as needed to other formats. However at this point I suspect that most (if not all) licensing agreements from eBookstores contain language disallowing me that ability.

One e-book format: I suggest Betamax.

Heard about this yesterday from another author. Dorchester should have returned your calls, should have paid their authors, and shouldn't be selling books they have no rights to. They only have themselves to blame for the negative publicity.

Just shaking my head in shock and anger. I'm so glad Jana went public with it--publishers behaving like this need to have a very rude awakening.

Good for Jana taking it public. There's enough piracy out there without having to worry about the publishers too.

Sara tweeted about this yesterday. I will repeat what I said there. A company may have fixed processes that only publish/remove ebooks from market every X amount of time (day, two days, week, etc). Regardless, a book can be manually removed (by way of running the process out of cycle). If they tell you they need more than 24 hours, they are lying. This should have been resolved immediately. The fact that it is still an issue means they're intentionally stealing from you all.

I'm surprised at Amazong/B&N. My "benefit of the doubt" thought is that they're deluged by Dorchester claims from authors in similar situations. Given how rapidly they've removed other kinds of content, you would think they would have suspended Dorchester sales entirely until they have it figured out.

If they're just ignoring it, then fast and hard escalation will net you a result pretty quickly. A company never acts faster than when it knows it's going to get sued and it's going to lose (at least no company I've ever worked for).

I'm wondering about the legalities for resellers - isn't this akin to selling stolen goods? Might not amazon and others want to remove these books from their stores once they know they are selling books the publisher does not have rights to publish?

Dorchester just never ceases to amaze me.

I'm curious about that phone call you finally got from them. Were they upset with you? Or did they play dumb?

I'm also curious about the legal exposure that Amazon and B&N have in all this. Dorchester has evidently decided that since you can't get blood from a turnip they are immune to consequences but Amazon has already demonstrated that they can pull books down at the speed of light.

If they can disable all the Macmillan buy buttons over a dispute with the publisher, I don't understand why they can't do the same to Dorchester titles that Dorchester does not own. That seems like a legal liability, to me. At the very least the Dorchester cut of those illegal sales should go directly to the author.

Self-publishing gets more attractive everyday.

Wow. I guess I'm a bit naive in thinking the business end of literature is always respectable. What did they say after they finally called back? Doesn't this kind of legal battle affect relationships within the publishing community?

Josh Musser
http://joshmusser.wordpress.com/

What a disgusting mess. I hope it works out. It sounds like they won't stop unless taken to court, though.

*shakes head*

Im curious about the phone call after the news broke.

Also, WTHell...Amazon and B&N should have pulled it down in seconds.
*sigh*

As of 10AM Pacific time the author's website was unavailable. Hope that just means there was too much traffic and the server was overwhelmed.

I just did a search at the Kindle Store (3:45 p.m. EDT) and Jana DeLeon's books are still available for purchase.

When I read about things like this It makes me realize just how naive I am about this whole industry. Perhaps I'm simply one of those people who tries to think the best of people (and companies) and so I don't imagine thinkgs like this could happen. Just goes to show that keeping up with the industry is a full time job.

I'm glad Jana took it public. It's obvious that Dorchester - by refusing to return your calls and continuing to sell her novels - wasn't going to do anything with out this sort of action on her part. I hope that things work out in her favor as quickly as possible.

I hope things work out for Jana. Dorchester selling her ebooks withour permission is basically another illegal download. :(

Hope it all works out for everyone concerned.

When I talk to non-writers about what they read, most people are reading authors published by traditional houses and promoted in traditional ways.

Younger authors and newer authors talk about the opportunities and the "democracy" of e-books and self-publishing and Internet-based book sales, but I'm waiting for them to show me the money.

Tomorrow or next week, all of us may use some form of Kindle or another, but without the promotion engine of old-style publishing and loss of reviewers, I don't know how any cream that's out there can possible rise to the top and be found by readers.

Malcolm

I have bought ebooks by print authors, but usually reluctantly because the price is normally too high. For the last two ebooks I bought, the price was the same as for their print books. Considering there's no printing, paper, mailing, etc. costs, they should at the least be a dollar or two less.

I self-published a couple of ebooks, mainly as an experiment. It takes a heck of a lot of self promotion to get your work under people's noses. Like hours every day trolling the various forums and book sites making conversation and hoping people notice that you have a book for sale (many places don't allow outright self-promotion).

If you already have a following, like Konrath, that makes things lots easier. There are self-published people in the forums who seem to be successful at the promotion and getting sales, but to me it's exhausting.

How are my ebooks doing? I've sold somewhere around 18 in total over the past few months. So that's either because they aren't great, or because I'm not good at pushing them, or both.

Let me tell you, I'd rather go the traditional publishing route.

Very cool! Good for JA Konrath--I'm really happy to hear that e-pubbing is working out for him, and for a growing number of other authors. :) I love hearing about writers finding new paths to their readers. The publishing industry will soon catch up to where the music and game industries already are.

I think the e-book industry will actually be (and already is) very similar to the games app industry. On the bestsellers list (or rather, the Top 25 list), you have the apps produced by larger companies (i.e. Sony, EA, Zynga) dominating most of the sales, and then a handful of apps produced by very small/indie groups, and then a couple that hit it big that were coded by a single person. All make good money. This mirrors the e-book bestseller lists and is probably what the future of e-publishing will look like as well. Independent e-book writers will exist side by side with the large publishers, just like their counterparts do in the music and game industries. There will be a natural, healthy group of "indies" that made it with their grassroots movements (just like indie singers/bands and indie game creators), and there will also be big-name authors grown by their publishers. It doesn't have to be a gladiator fight to the death between writers and the "gatekeepers". It's not really one or the other. We can potentially exist in harmony.

Konrath has a good platform, and he works hard at it. He did all the right things to build that platform when he was traditionally published and he maintains that growth now. I support what he's doing because I believe writers aren't getting enough for their e-book rights and royalties in general. From a business perspective it's apparent the traditional publishing model is broken. Forget about the economic climate, it doesn't make sense to continue to run a business that's not profitable to everyone involved. Konrath has stats for newbies and unknowns who are doing okay. Would they have done any better if they'd published traditionally? I doubt it. The stats on books making money are pretty dismal and heart breaking, but I believe there's more opportunity and options for everyone in publishing. Everyone, not just writers. Be brave, educate yourself and then do the best you can. We still have to have a great story and write well. I still think having an agent is the right way to go, but again, be patient and learn as much as you can about publishing. Thanks Kristin. I enjoy visiting.

Thanks for the mention, Kristin. I'd think being able to sell that many ebooks on my own would be interesting to industry pros, but only you and Publisher's Lunch have acknowledged my accomplishment.

It might be a genre thing (my genre is mystery/thriller), but I personally know four NYT bestselling authors whose last hardcovers were outsold by their Kindle ebooks. I really believe it's only a matter of time before writers get smart and realize that a 70% ebook royalty is better than a 17.5% ebook royalty (25% of the 70% agency rate.)

Smart agents won't have anything to fear when this change comes. They'll be able to provide the same services for their clients, except they'll be dealing with ebook retailers rather than print publishers. And though my agent doesn't get a percentage of my ebook sales (because I did that on my own), she has sold audio rights to those ebooks, and film rights to one of them. As you mentioned, she also negotiated my AmazonEncore deal, and David Morrell's current deal with Amazon.

I think John Green said it best. I think traditional publishing will and should win out, because readers need the publishing "gatekeepers" to find the best books and to know what to buy.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6712772.html

Very interesting post--and I was surprised to read about your best selling clients' e-books sales. Surprising and informative. Thanks!!

Thought this was an interesting post. Thanks for mentioning Konrath's post, Kristin!

@Edie Ramer: The cost to print and mail a book really aren't that much. It's the editing, promoting, staffing, etc. that costs the most. That's why there isn't always a huge difference between ebooks and printed books.

@Marie Lu: Love your indie game/music comparison, and I can see that working well in the future. One of the things that bothers me about epublishing is finding the good books that are out there. Actually, I probably shouldn't say "good" books, but rather, books that are for me. There are plenty of ebooks that people rave about, but for some reason - maybe their pacing, their content, their voice, their whatever - they aren't what I'm looking for. Books published traditionally more typically are. So, if/when we do start selling primarily ebooks, I'd still purchase the books by the big name publishers unless I read a ton of great reviews for books from the smaller pubs.

@Joe Konrath: It doesn't surprise me that NYT bestselling authors' ebooks are outselling the hardbacks. If I had a choice between a hardback and ebook, I'd go for the ebook, too. Given the choice between an ebook and paperback, though? I'm still most likely to choose paperback.

I love my Kindle, buy from the bigger digital first/e-publishers often, and am excited to see where this whole e-pub thing goes.

However, I agree with Miranda's comment. I want gatekeepers. I will not spend my money on something that hasn't gone through that traditional process with an editor (who the author didn't pay). My reading time is too precious to spend time determining which self-pubbed authors have great books and which have crappy ones.

Very interesting discussion. Two things popped into my head. First, I wonder what your client's e-books sales would be if that was the only outlet? If they already have a large fan base like Konrath, the e-book sales would be greater.

Regarding the traditional publishers being the conduit through which the cream rises to the top, I would have to disagree. There are books coming out that way that are poorly written and poorly edited. I have noticed a real drop in quality for some commercial fiction.

Thanks for sharing that link. Congrats to Konrath for success in self-publishing, he is a trail blazer for other authors to follow.

But I have to admit, it seems like he spends alot of time managing the business side and that can only take from writing time. He seems to do a great job of fitting both in; but I would rather spend my time writing and share my profits (if I had any) with an agent (if I had one) and have them do what they do best.

@Sandy: I totally agree about the gatekeeper thing. :) In taking a look at publishing's cousins of music, movies, and games, publishers don't have all that much to fear. They might downsize a little, but they'll still be around. In fact, predicting publishing's future should basically require just looking over at the rest of the entertainment industry. Just like consumers gravitate toward movies put out by Paramount or music put out by Jive Records or games put out by EA, they will still largely gravitate toward books put out by large publishers. Lots of indie e-book writers will still find success just like their fellow entertainers who have already gone through the e-revolution. Webisode creators online make great money just from iTunes and YouTube, for example. That doesn't mean production houses are going out of business anytime soon, if ever. So JA Konrath is also absolutely right that e-books will usher in a new era of successful writers who don't have to go through mainstream publishing. He is the pioneer and example of this and experiencing it firsthand.

The key to success here, however, is still marketing and platform. You have to get into a new format EARLY and FAST. I work in the video game industry and saw this happen with Facebook apps and iPhone apps. Breakthrough format for games, instead of being tied to systems (PSP, DS, Xbox, etc). The first wave of independently-coded apps on both did phenomenally well, since consumers only had to scroll through a few dozen pages to see the offerings. Those indie coders became rich literally overnight. Inevitably, the market soon got crowded with hundreds of thousands of indie apps, prices plummeted, and users went back to trusting mostly apps produced by companies (Zynga, Playfish, etc) to find what they wanted to play. The occasional hi-quality indie app still rises to the top and does so with decent regularity (although nothing like the early app days). The same thing will happen with e-books. And things will be just fine for both writers and publishers. Most of all, for readers.

Honestly, I'm not afraid for publishers but the ones I *am* afraid for are bookstores. It really hurts my heart because I love the sensory experience of browsing in a bookstore. Using the same analogy here, look at the fall of DVD rental/sale stores (Hollywood, Blockbuster), music record stores, and video game stores (GameStop). And the rise of Netflix, iTunes, and online game rental stores. The best thing for bookstores to do is to establish an early online presence and start seizing that market share. (Before Amazon takes over completely) Because it's not the publishers/providers who will have trouble after the e-revolution dust settles, it's the distributors. Sadly. :(

CNN had a spot on e- publishing, King, and the Kindle. Some are forecasting that by 2015 e sales will be 50%. I hope so, but not with big publishers.

justamouse

also-when I went to the eye Drs a few months ago, the waiting room was packed with senior citizens--who were all talking about how wonderful the Kindle was, how they read more and the glory that was Project Gutenberg.

I almost leapt up in the air and pumped my fist.

justamouse

After being rejected by hundreds of agents, I put my mystery novel PUNCTURED up on Amazon Kindle, and priced it at 99 cents. I did no promotion, other than posting in the comments section of Konrath's blog periodically. I don't have a website or blog. The ebook has sold almost 11,000 copies in eight months. And last week I got an email from an acquistions editor at AmazonEncore.

I've noticed a significant shift in my selection methods since adopting an e-reader (Kindle, in my case) for fiction. First, I buy a lot more, probably because impulse buying is a lot easier when I spend so much time on the 'net. Second, I'm finding that over 75% of the fiction books I buy were recommended by one of the (many) blogs I read, or found via Twitter.

Granted, I may read more than most people do, but I'm hearing the same things from others - recommendations from respected blogs and bloggers carry a lot more weight than other reviews, partly because a reader has a better connection to their likes and personality type (and therefore a better ability to judge the recommendation and whether it matches the reader's preferences) than reviews in traditional media.

When I buy a book in paper, I know it will always be in the form I boudht, and I can read it in that form all my life. Why wouldn't I want a book I write to have that same protection from alteration?

I’m planning on putting his untraditional model to the test very soon. I have a children’s chapter book ready (minus a few illustrations done) and plan on putting it on the Kindle and Createspace.

The children’s ebook market seems to be even further behind the curve than other traditional novels so I know it will be an even bigger uphill battle. But when it catches up I’ll already be established.

Authors are providing their own "gatekeepers" by recommending books on their blogs. There are several Kindlebook review blogs now, many of which are getting excellent reputations. So move over Publisher Weekly. Here are some to check out:

theindiespotlight.com
indiebookblog.com
thefrugalkindle.blogspot.com
kindlecheapreads.com
redadeptreviews.com
kindlereader.blogspot.com
compulsivereader.com
bellaonline.com

> For my top sellers in print,
> their ebook sales currently
> don’t equal 1% of their print sales
> (and yes, they are available
> in all formats across many
> e-distribution platforms).

oh, c'mon. corporate publishers
are intentionally sabotaging the
e-book sector now, since they
know that it spells their doom...

so this "comparison" is rigged...

overpriced e-books don't sell.
big surprise! it's just a big lie,
to try to keep authors in line...

meanwhile, konrath is making
his big money, hand over fist...

-bowerbird

My self published children's books are off to a great start. I worked hard to get a traditional publisher, but now, after speaking with traditionally published authors, am feeling excited at my fate..beautiful ebooks next:)

Ironically I just finished reading this article posted by a Facebook friend on how traditional publishers themselves have contributed to the decline of publishing: http://booksquare.com/a-question-of-value/

It covers, among other things, crap put out by established authors who no one at the publishing house, apparently, had the cojones to tell them was crap and to go back and rewrite it.

J A Konrath, Seth Godin & others are demonstrating that traditional publishers aren't as necessary once one has an established following/audience; now it's up to others to figure out how to strike out on their own and build their own audience. I haven't given up on traditional publishing but I've put it aside for now to start my own experiment in self-publishing; if it doesn't work out I can always try traditional publishing again or simply, try try again!

Thanks for posting this link, Kristin. I've been watching ebook developments for a while now and your blog was one of the places that first got me interested in educating myself. You were early there, and here you are again.

I learned a ton just from the comments. Thanks for commenting everyone!

Kristin,

Would you represent an author who didn't want to get published via the traditional route?

@Sandy "I think traditional publishing will and should win out, because readers need the publishing "gatekeepers" to find the best books and to know what to buy."
- Actually Sandy, Readers don't need anyone to help them find what to read. Most ebooks allow sampling, and there are a ton of blogs, websites and forums where books are passionately, and in many cases objectively (as far as that's possible with a novel) reviewed. Go take a look at Librarything or the list above, or Amazon reviews.

Oh! What a great idea! I could have a cover full of romance author sigs, another for urban fantasy authors, another for YA...

Nice!

Aha! So that's how we still get autographs - why didn't I think of that?? *grin*

http://damselinadirtydress.blogspot.com

I've always thought that was a great idea--get your device signed like a guitar case!

Love it. :)

I see a new trend starting... and a rise in E-book reader sales lol

I can see it. Author personalized Nooks. Cool.

I'm sure it won't be long now before someone comes out with a 'skin' to compliment a neat idea!

I usually get requests for signed bookplates from people who have e-readers. But this one is a first!!

lol.

Yup! The writing's on the wall here, and it's meant for us!

At RWA Nationals this year I saw quite a few people having their eReaders signed.

I love the idea of having different skins for different genres.

I see a new sales wall of ereader snap-on covers at every store and Amazon. "How many autographs do you have?" "I love your Nook cover!" Very cool : )

How would you fit all the names on the back? Have flip pages for the new books you buy?

Yeah--I saw people bringing in Kindles to Brandon Sanderson's signing just a couple days ago. Crazy how things change...

I just saw something about that on another blog only a few minutes ago. I really want to see how it's done but it certainly seems like a great idea.

I was asked to sign a Kindle recently. Cracked me right up. :D

That's going to be a really cool trend! Awesome!

Cool! I was at the eye Dr the other day and in the waitingroom there were 5 senior citizens and one 40ish HS English teacher. You want to know what the conversation was about? How wonderful and lovely all these electronic reading devices were, and how they all were reading so much on them. This is going to be a fantastic trend, and signing them-PERFECT. Can you imagine an e-reader being auctioned off with dozens of famous names on it? Brilliant.

My friend has her Kindle cover signed by several authors. It's really cool and I can see it happening more and more. Plus, just get a new cover when that one is filled up. It's quite a good idea.

One of the appeals of the Nook is that that back cover is removeable and replaceable (you can buy spares and different colors at B&N). I've read there is a trend of Nook owners collecting signed back covers.

Today at WorldCon Robert Silverberg reported being asked to sign a Kindle. He did it, too! (And I ran back here to report.)

I don't know Wylie other than what I've read about him, but he doesn't really seem like he's the sort of agent that I would want: His business model seems to be based around poaching successful authors from other agents rather than developing and nurturing new talent. It's really the opposite of what is necessary to further literature in my opinion.

I'm going to respond to this on a different note... God bless agents everywhere who understand the details of this industry. Try as I might to understand it fully, this issue in particular is overwhelming and something I'd never even considered. I can't imagine trying to understand this sorts of things on my own, without anyone next to me helping me understand the details. Phew! Thanks for the info, Kristin!

Latest news: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/44264-the-rh-wylie-showdown-ends-new-digital-royalty-rate-is-born.html

Do you think the issue of digital rights will have any influence on contracts and submissions for both current and future clients? Should unpublished writers pay closer attention to how each publishing house approaches digital rights and e-book pricing rather than advances, popular authors on the roster, etc?

frankly, even if he got them to agree to 40%, that's still crap IMO.

Anyone who thinks the publishers spend a lot of money creating Kindle editions (etc) of their books and therefore need to take a huge % is drinking the koolaid. It's a rip off of authors plain and simple.

Check out Mike Stackpole's blog if you want to read about just how much 'work' it takes to produce an e-book.

Ah, the business side of publishing...will newbie authors be able to get this? Thank God for agents...

I've seen a few backlisted books I'm in being released in digital format that were published long before anyone thought about digital books. They were small books and I'll live.

But I'm glad someone is addressing the topic.

I am a big fun of your blog and I always make sure that I can visit it every week. This post is so interesting and informative as well.

Shades of Motown.

This gives me shivers that history keeps repeating with artists and business.

I hope that people do make sure they protect themselves and get the right payment for their work whether they hand over the rights or not.

Thanks for the heads up.

The world of publishing is beginning to seem like a very scary place. The whole "rights" thing is starting to get very complicated. I have been looking into epublisher Carina Press (Harlequin) and would love your thoughts on this, Kristin. They are asking for full rights for seven years and even though they say that right now, they aren't doing "print", that it may be a possibility in the future. What if they decide to go to print in that seven year period? What does that mean for us authors as far as rights go? Do you think Carina Press might be a good first stepping stone for an unpublished writer? Or would you steer clear?

I have received this letter. I have asked several agents to rep. me for these rights.
I am getting the same blithe rejections I have come to adore from agents.
More than one told me "agents don't represent just e-rights. You'll have a hard time finding one that does that."
In the same breath many will admit, this is where the business is going. Better stated, one day, all publishing rights will be merely the e-rights.
I am not sure what agents do anymore apart from rejecting people. Here I have a book previously published: there is no work, none, apart from negotiating the percentages from a publisher who is obviously looking to deal and interested in publishing it in the new format. I might not like the new format either, but I have come to accept that in this market like to eat.
There is also considerable cinematic potential in the work and I have retained all movie rights.
http://us.macmillan.com/wherehellfreezesover
[email protected]

"By the way, these letters went out to authors—not to the agents or agencies who represent them."

That was not polite.

Thanks, Kristin. I learn a lot from your posts.

I see no purpose in reverting backlist erights to a publisher. What are they going to do for you? I've published my own backlist of 15 books and am selling many more than my publisher would. Granted, it required me to get my own cover art, formatting, etc. etc. which required me to essentially form my own publishing company. Traditional publishers controlled distribution. They don't with eBooks. My books are on Kindle, in the iBookstore and we sell electronic forms ourselves. Any authors with backlist rights who are interested, drop me a line.

On the plus side, this letter acknowledges that e-rights are something to explicitly bestow--the rights don't pass implicitly because of previous agreements--and that attitude isn't universal.

I know it's a business and publishers are in it to make money but this kind of thing really raises doubts about publishers caring anything about their authors. I certainly know my publisher doesn't.

Thanks for the FYI, Kristin! Our agency received some letters for our authors today, and I did wonder at the randomness that seemed to be applied in which authors and works they wanted e-rights for. Now I'll check to see if they went out to our other authors directly.

@David Kearns: As someone who just spent all day dealing with these letters, and will spend some more days to come, let me assure you that it is not as simple as negotiating percentage points. Would that it were. Also, our agency, and most agents I know, don't want to represent an author for just one project/right, they want to represent the author throughout their career. I would never sign an author simply because they have a deal in hand; it would, frankly, be cheating the author.

Every time you post something like this, it just affirms my belief that having an agent is the only way to go. I wouldn't want to deal with this on my own. Thank goodness for you and your colleagues and all you do.

This is why it is good to have agents after all.

Kristin, Do you sense that any other publishers will do the same? I have backlist titles with Doubleday and Wm Morrow/HarperCollins.

Growing up in the music industry, I tend to get paranoid about my rights as an artist. I would DEFINITELY refer that letter to my agent/attorney. After all, I would MUCH rather let someone who KNOWS what they're doing advise me instead of hoping that I can figure the contract out on my own.

I do hope other authors are making the same choice :)

Thanks for the tip.

CFD, I agree with you. Having your own agent is going to be a big help. This post is so interesting. I will share to all my friends.

Oooo, looks like J.A. Konrath (who took his backlist and is making $$$$$ on it for himself on Kindle) and other authors are smarter than the publishers now. Wasn't Konrath just castigated for this recently in PW?

I think he's smarter than Macmillan.

Trish
@realbrilliant
http://www.realbrilliant.com/blog

Their new agreement is the worst I have seen in the industry. Quite a disgrace.

Trish, you can hardly expect PW to celebrate Konrath's accomplishments. He achieved his success outside PW strictures, and it's an industry magazine, so of course he is now a pariah where he was previously a mere curiosity. Let's see who goes out of print first--PW or Konrath.

Any author signing for less than 25 percent ebook royalties either has a lousy agent or is just plain faithless. I think 40 to 50 percent is a good starting point--but even then, 70 percent on your own sounds a lot better.

Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com

Konrath did not take is "backlist". Those books are too new for his rights to have reverted. He took books that he'd never sold (you now, the "under the bed" books) and self-published them. He also took his latest Jack Daniels sequal and did this, because his publisher wouldn’t pay him the advance he wanted. I know several people having good luck with this same scheme.

But let us all remember the math here: eBooks are less than 5% of sales for most genre fiction that is published in mass market (it’s more like 1% for most of the people I’ve talked to). So even if you triple the royalty %, you’d have to sell a HELL of a lot more copies to make the same money (and if you’re not someone like Konrath, with a NY-publisher-created fan base already in place, there’s almost no chance of pulling this off).

Konrath stated that he wanted $100K for his new contract, which is why he walked. Let’s assume that’s a standard 3 book contract. To earn that, he’d have to sell 16K+ copies of each of the three books (assuming that he’s really getting 70% of the $2.99 price). That’s not unreasonable, but it’s unlikely based on the sales history of that series (hence his publishers refusal to pay him that much for it).

If anyone can pull this off and make it work, it’s Konrath. That said, I have no plans to follow in his footsteps.

He also took his latest Jack Daniels sequel and did this, because his publisher wouldn’t pay him the advance he wanted.

Where did that rumor come from?

My publisher dropped their mystery line. My books are in multiple printings and have earned out their six figure advance.

Amazon is publishing, in ebook and print, my next Jack Daniels novel.

My "under the bed novels" are earning me over 100k per year--maybe that's where you got that figure.

To earn that, he’d have to sell 16K+ copies of each of the three books

By October, I'll have sold 100,000 self-published ebooks. 16k per title is not only doable, it's a very low estimate.

If anyone can pull this off and make it work, it’s Konrath.

Thanks! :) But I'm not the only one doing this. And watch as more and more authors do the same thing.

Incidentally, my agent has sold audio rights to my self-pubbed ebooks, and is working on foreign sales.

Hi Kristin! Didn't mean to hijack the comment thread. Someone on my blog posted a link to here.

Not a worry Joe. Happy to have you chime in.

Great blog! I genuinely love how it is uncomplicated on my eyes and the facts is well written. I am wondering how I could be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your rss feed which need to do the trick! Have a nice day!


Thanks

Link Building Services

<3<3<3<3<3

Kristin, you are amazing. :)

Kristin, what exactly does it mean for your authors' backlist titles? Should agents sign an 'in case of bankruptcy' caveat with publishing houses?

I'm not sure switching to e-books completely is enough to save them, considering e-books haven't quite attained a high percentage of the publishing market share, though the numbers are climbing.

Soooooo many posts about changes in the publishing world, and they're mostly doom and gloom. It makes me sad. I hope most of it ends up being just resistance to changes in modern technology and a sagging economy (to pick up at some later point). I admit I still haven't purchased an e-reader of any kind. It's hard for me to move away from the printed books.

I feel so bad for their authors, this may be legal but I don't think it is ethical.

To do well in the ebook market you need a big web presence. Looking at Dorchester's website it needs a lot of work. The other thing is that so far the thing that sells well in ebook form is romance - erotic romance sells really well. The other genres? Not so much.

Why are readers who've been shopping at Samhain, Elloras Cave and now Carina going to be buying stuff from Dorchester? What have they done to increase their web presence? Have they got any deals with big author blogs etc?

This would be an exciting move but I think it is driven more by desperation than any serious business planning. So I think Dorchester probably won't be here in a years time. Other publishers will pick up their authors, when they go to the wall.

For the former clients, isn't having them be digital-only a good move? I was under the impression that digital backlists were big money-makers for e-pubbed authors.

Wow! I happen to love Dorchester's books, but am shocked they switched over so quickly. I've heard they don't make a lot of money. Cashing in on the e-book craze is definitely the motive here.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. A few months ago my small publisher called all their authors and gave us much the same news. They're not doing MM anymore and I could ask for my rights back and receive the advance money owed to me or go ebook only.
They also dropped many of their MM authors without offering them this deal. I think we'll see more of this and MM will slowly die.
I would feel better about my publisher doing this if they had better promotion going on. The distributer they use did just sign some kind of agreement with the ipad bookstore or whatever it's called. I'm worried for all of us.

I would imagine the authors who signed prior will be going forward with e-books. So I'm not getting the impact. And now they will be getting their own Apps, and I would think a larger fan base. They just have to be really good to compete in the e-book market with all the books out there right now.

But is this a surprise to me. Now way. I'm just surprsed they waited this long.

wow i like your post...........

I know this really sucks for Dorchester's authors, but seriously, I wonder if this is the first shot fired over the bow for the other publishers. Going to POD makes a lot of sense, at least theoretically, although it will be a long hard transition because the distribution model as it stands now isn't really able to accommodate it. It makes so much more sense, though, in the long run, for publishers to go POD for dead-tree books.

The current method of printing up x thousand copies & hoping you sell them all, and pulping them if you don't, is costly and environmentally unfriendly (and destructive to a budding author's career). At least with POD you're only manufacturing a wanted product rather than a projected demand and crossing your fingers.

Dorchester may very well fail at this venture but they won't be the last to attempt it, either.

I first heard about what was going on with Dorchester from your blog, Kristin. Your info came at just the right time for me. I literally had my address book open and had every intention of firing off a manuscript to them. Needless to say, I changed my mind and am exploring other avenues.

Thanks.

I know this isn't related but I'm going to a conference next month and this is my first. I'm really nervous about it! What should I wear? I am as prepared as I can be in everything except my wardrobe. Business casual? Professional? Jeans? Help!

I think, a couple smaller presses have also gone this route. Could this be a trend we'll see more of the major publishing houses follow?

I hope any author who has recently signed with them, has terminology in their contract defining 'in print', as just that (i.e. on ink and paper).

I also hope they really step up their ebook promotion. Dorchester hasn't been real cutting edge with their web presence. Adult authors might do better self-publishing their e-books, rather than accept mediocre ebook commissions.

And what happens if a publisher of children's books goes this route? I haven't seen many kids with ereaders.

I have a Romance Reader group and only one person has an E-reader. I can't use one, as I can barely use the computer for more than a half-hour. So sorry for the authors here. I believe people will always want some books in printed form.

Linda

Sounds like a fun trip so far! Glad to hear Ally Carter is getting a good turnout.

I love the pic of Ally and Kim. How fun!

Glad you're having a good trip so far!

Out of curiosity, do you ever tell people you sit next to on flights that you're a literary agent? Especially if you're both headed to a writing conference? (I'm picturing 2+ hours of listening to someone extol the virtues of their 400,000 word manuscript about the love between a robot and a space monkey, told all in rhetorical questions...)

All right, who blabbed?

DaveK

Now that explains why there was no posting the past days...

Have fun...

Hope you have a great time. AND, I have to say, I like reading YOUR blog.

Be safe, have fun.

We hear via a nameless spy that RWA has at last dropped their ridiculous "publisher eligibility" for the Rita. Glad to see it, but long, long overdue.

Looks like fun! I love Disney World; that pic made me think of when we went last year.

Wish I could've gone to RWA...maybe next year!

I saw you at RWA's literacy signing and didn't want to take up your time but couldn't resist saying, I like your blog! Hope I wasn't too rude to kind of yell it at you like that. :-) (and hopefully you don't even remember, LOL)

Hope you have a great time, and how sweet of K Reid to show up for the signing!

Thanks so much for making this clear. I never could figure out why Bookscan is so off on some sales. It does seem ridiculously unfair, especially for romance and mystery writers who sell in non-bookstore venues.

The dream of publishing sounds glamorous, but the business of publishing sounds PAINFUL. Can't wait :)

Sometimes as outsiders we shake our heads at the way a publishing decision is made.

And yet, if a publisher compares Author A's Bookscan information to Author B's (in the same genre) then the publisher can make reasonable decisions based on admittedly incomplete information.

If I were a publisher the bigger issue I would be trying to figure out is how to capture e-book market information -- and to project what that will mean to the author's ability to generate revenue in times of flux.

~ Jim

By digital point-of-sales, am I correct in assuming you mean purchasing books off Amazon and other sites?

Yeah, that's a huuuuuge market. Walmart is as well. Bookscan definitely needs revamping, or publishers need to wake up on this issue.

So Kristen, what's the best way to buy a book, if one of my goals is to support my favorite new authors (and by extension, their caring, blogging agents)?

Using flawed statistical models to formulate business decisions in the face of evidence the model is wrong is indicative of greater problems below the surface.

I would assert even the most respectable publisher engaged in this monkey business (and it is just that: monkey business) is either currently going to face a business crisis or will in the future face a business crisis.

OK, I realize a publisher's sell-in is different than sell-through. But they have to know what their NET sales are for a given title and what the Bookscan reports say over the life of a hardcover. How can it be that the publishing houses aren't interested in or capable of the same kind of analysis your li'l ol' agency is doing?

Great post.
I work in the video game industry and we are haunted by a similar process. In the gamez biz it's called TRST data, and the same flaws exist.

One of the interesting differences is that we NEVER get the multi-title deals and new projects are evaluated and budgeted on early TRST data trends. This can really sting because these (incomplete) numbers are verifiable (which publishing and distribution love) and our projections are not. If you get a slow first three months out of the gate then your budget to build a sequel is compromised. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that can kill a franchise overnight.

Kristin, do publishers cut or drop funding for a title within a series during the run based on poor Bookscan results? I can see that being equally frustrating and completely believable.

After following your blog for a year now, I’ve come to realize that the process of selecting, producing, funding, evaluating, adjusting, marketing, developing, publishing and distributing books seem to mirror that games industry very closely.

I tip my hat. Misery and company and all that fancy jazz.

how is it that publishers are not aware of this?

Of course publishers are aware of this - Bookscan's a sample, everyone knows that. They 'only' capture 70% of sales? Well ... TV ratings for three hundred million Americans are extrapolated from a few thousand homes, and advertisers and program makers make hundred-million-dollar decisions based on those.

There are going to be some types of book that do a little better, and some that do a little worse under Bookscan. There are some categories - like Amish romance, say, or End Times Christian prophecy - that pack the supermarket shelves but barely flicker on Bookscan.

It's not a perfect system ... well, OK, show me the perfect system. The one that takes into account the people from the US who bought the third 'The Girl Who ...' book online from the UK because it came out five months earlier there, or who bought a book from Goodwill, or direct from a small press.

No one treats Bookscan as the exact figure of all copies sold. They use it as a measure of how *well* a book sold, compared with other titles.

Hmmm...that's kind of depressing. But asi es la vida, There will always be something else to worry about when actually published.
It's kind of funny how many people think getting published will solve all their problems. Between deadlines, the curse of the second novel, worrying about people showing up for signings, and the constant nail biting over sales people go through, I'm really starting to cherish this "pre-published" phase.

You are unfortunately stuck with the standard used by pub houses. Frustrating to be sure but there it is. As for Bookscan, I would expect they will adapt to tallying sales that include those areas like digital point-of-sales they miss now. the industry is in a state of flux. Perhaps the greatest confluence of change since ol' Gutenburg invented the press.

Ach, Bookscan - don't get me started. We quit using them a couple years ago because they aren't a realistic reflection of actual sales. So why bother? In truth, nothing can track every sale. Publishers should consider the work currently being submitted and their belief it'll sell.

Bookscan is roughly 25-30% of my first 4 week sales. It does not include most groceries or many of the small drug store vendors as well as walmart, so mass market authors are really undercounted. When I did an analysis, bookscan was within 5% of target+bn+borders+bamm+airports+amazon.

Yep--the two chains that carry my books most don't report to BookScan, and then there's the Walmart thing. If you go by BookScan numbers, you'd think I sell maybe dozens or a few hundred books instead of the actual thousands I do.

We offer the farouk chi flat iron. We provide the best price and free shipping for all the
chi flat iron. As we know, the
ghd iv styler is the first class and famous brand. So it is the good chance for you. Don't let it pass. If you are looking for the
babyliss flat iron, you have come to the right place for
instyler rotating hot iron.


ghd straighteners was known as
ghd flat iron, which was authorized online
ghd seller provides all kinds of hair straighteners,pink ghd,purple ghd,babyliss. By visiting
ghd iv salon styler , you will find what you want and made yourself more beautiful.If you miss it ,you miss beauty.Buy a piece of ghd for yourself.Come and join us
http://www.ghdhairs.com/ to win the
ghd iv mini styler.
ghd uk
ghd australia
ghd africa
ghd southafrica
t3 hair dryer
purple ghd straighteners
ghd spain
ghd ireland
ghd denmark
ghd america
ghd italy
ghd germany
ghd france
ghds
cheap ghd
purple ghd straighteners
ghd hair straightener
ghd hair straighteners
ghd hair straighteners wholesale
straighteners

Can you get it for free in another format? Like a word document? It seems weird but I can sort of see their logic if a squint. Most printers will accept PDFs. So I'm assuming they are equating having the PDF with having the printing plates of a book. In the olden days you had to buy those from the publisher. ($250 is fairly typical for buying the plates upon termination of a contract, right?)

Giving you a PDF means when the contract is terminated you will have in your possession all you need to reprint the book they produced (with all their design, typesetting and whatever work)?

But it does seem like poor business practice to make you pay for it up front. Why not just include a notice that says if you want to reproduce the PDF, you need to purchase it?

A cheaper way to deal with this is to buy the e-copy and then crack the DRM.

Which is technically illegal, but really, are they going to smack the author down for cracking the DRM on her own darned book?

Sometimes corporations do things that don't make sense. Did you know that Walmart will no longer have recycling bins in their parking lots. They are one of the biggest sellers of packaged products in the world, but for some reason don't want to take responsibility for all the packaging materials. (I'm really sorry about going off, but just like an author fee for your own book doesn't make sense, this doesn't make sense to me.)

I can't wrap my head around this, no matter how hard I try. I mean, the author can use his or her copy of the manuscript to make their own PDF -- for the publishing company to provide the manuscript in PDF form is a kindness, almost a gift.

The author (or one of the author's friends) is perfectly capable of making a PDF manuscript. However, if the publishing company provides one, it's bound to be more professional looking and it relieves the author of excess work.

To suddenly stop providing ready-made PDF's for the authors (unless they receive a hefty payment) seems to be . . . well, insulting and ridiculous.

I can't think of any logical chain of thought that would lead the publishing company to think this is a good move.

that's ridiculous!

I'm kind of shocked especially if there was no warning of change in a previous policy.

Wow, strange policy.

That is really strange. And kinda funny, in a sad way.

I take it the author didn't get the pdf version??

A complete rip-off! Isn't the author supposed to actually get a discount on their book? Hope your incredulous response solves things and the author gets, you know, what THEY wrote!

Really? Really! Just WOW!

That is bizarre. I hope they see how ridiculous this seems.

Amy

Wow, that policy will last all of 0 seconds. Someone thought they had a bright idea. Those people are supposed to know they're not allowed to have bright ideas.

To anonymous number 1, no, that's not a concern. Production works with PDFs all the time. We prefer to send PDFs to the author for review rather than printed pages. It's faster (ftp vs. mail), more accurate (handwriting vs. typed comments), and cheaper (ftp vs mail, printing costs). Not only does the house have the finished PDFs, they have many iterations from stages along the way.

I don't know the house you were dealing with, Kristin, so I can't offer specific insight. The only way I can think of this being a legitimate claim is if they're an end-to-end Quark publisher, meaning they don't typeset in InDesign and they work with composed pages fully in Quark (or on paper). In that case, the house would have to go back and request the compositor to provide PDFs. $250 is an accurate cost the compositor would charge. The house is then passing that cost onto you.

Working end-to-end in quark scares the hell out of me for copyediting purposes, but if it's a small house, I can see it happening.

Wow... $250 for a copy of their own book? That's just ridiculous.

That's just stupid. Even the most notorious of vanity pressed don't charge $250 for a PDF file.

What do they think the author's going to do? Make copies and hand them out for free?

Definitely want to hear how this turns out--It seems obvious that a person should get a copy of ALL versions of THEIR work--And if the editor and company are worried about you going somewhere else with your electronic rights, then they should make a better offer--not hold the product hostage!!!!

Yet another instance of taking "Make a buck however possible" to ridiculous lengths. Let's hope that this gets laughed out of existence as quickly as possible.

Publishers make money because authors provide the content for books and now the publisher is charging the author for a PDF?

WTF? This is just wrong.

This is terrible! I've never heard of this before! Did the author have to review the galleys before the book went to press? In what format were the galleys printed? All of my edits, revisions and galleys are electronic, and when I review the galley, right before it goes to press, the book is in PDF format already.

On your status: Great job! Working through a to-do list feels wonderful!

On the rest: (prepare for rant)
This is ridiculous.
As if it wasn't hard enough...
This writing thing HAS to be a passion if you're going to stand up straight...
UNLESS THEY KNOCK YOU DOWN AGAIN!!!!
thanks to you and Rachelle, though, I've learned a whole lot about this business I never would have otherwise.
But one thing's for sure...people are still out to make money.
It's kind of ironic that we writers can hardly write for the money, and yet people suck it out of us anyway. (sigh)
Sorry...rant complete.
;}
Thanks for helping us, girl.
HAve a good one.

You know, being in a business that's changing daily, I can understand asking money for compensation to your own expense..is that what this is?

Is there another way to get a copy?

ROTFLMAO! I hope you emailed back, "Never mind, I can PDF it for her for free!"

Yeah, if it's a company that doesn't work in pdf to start with, I can see where they might feel justified asking you to pay the conversion charges. But pdf is such a standard anymore, it is a little scary if they don't already use it.

A rather odd response from an editor since that very book is probably selling in a PDF format on Smashwords for a few dollars.

Seeing that I do this sort of thing all the time with my own authors, I'm really shocked all editors don't send out the final file as normal practice. We send a final pdf to our authors and their agents before we go to final print run - regardless of who has the foreign rights. It's simply good business.

I'll now wander aimlessly about, scratching my head...new profit center? shudder

I love the heads up from Kristen, but I also loved the varied responses from the commenters. It's interesting to see that some actually have found valid reasons for why this company might feel justified in charging a fee for the pdf. It'll be interesting to see their reasoning and what comes of it. I hope at least we find out so that we can learn from all this. Thanks to everyone for such insights.

Sweet Jebus!

One thing that strikes me in all this: doesn't the author generally retain copyright?? I just pulled a heap of books from my shelf and checked the copyrights. Unless it's part of a series owned by someone else, say Star Wars or something, the author keeps the copyright.

So this is a work that you've copyrighted as an author, and that you've allowed, in essence, the publisher to print and distribute. I mean, that's the legal argument. We know it's not quite like that in reality. ;) But it's still the author's copyrighted work.

Man, I'd be furious. And especially when you want to use the PDF to shop around subsidiary rights? Wouldn't that actually HELP the publisher by making the book more popular?

*facepalm* Oy vey, everybody.

Incidentally, Kristin, if they stand firm on the $250 for PDFs, tell them you'll happily accept the typesetting files instead. I'm certain one of your blog readers would be willing to convert Quark or InDesign files for you at no charge. We're good people.

Another thing to negotiate into the contract, Agent Kristin!

I'm not quite sure how this works, so correct me if I'm wrong. But doesn't the author still, technically, own the book? I mean, the publishers will eventually be paying the author for the book (and that's what the advance is - a payment for that book). My understanding may (probably is) wrong, but I always thought the publishers only rented the publishing rights from the author who retains copyrights...so why such a hefty price? It doesn't take THAT long to convert a document into a PDF.

Sounds like an addition to contracts is needed regarding the publisher providing PDFs of the final book at no cost. Stick it to em'!

While a PDF of the manuscript can be made with a newer version of Word, I assume that the PDF you want reflects the look and feel of the typeset book.

Truth be known, if you know the font, font size, and leading used in the body of the text, a little skill with Word can produce something that looks like the typeset version. I used Word to design my two books, "Flogging the Quill, Crafting a Novel that Sells" and "The Vampire Kitty-cat Chronicles." For both, I provided a PDF for the printer, and they look terrific.

Offer them tree fiddy!

That makes no sense from a production perspective unless they're using an odd process, such as Joseph Selby described in one of the above comments. Otherwise PDF output is a simple part of book design production espcially if they're using InDesign, which is what most places use these days. But it could be possible that they've stuck with an older workflow. If not, then it's some corporate suit that made a stupid policy change.

$200 is what my publisher charged me for the digital files of a book of mine that went out of print (I wanted to republish it myself and told them that). It was a fair deal for what I wanted.
But no author is going to do that with a brand new book, are they? So the publisher has just created some bad feeling for no good reason.
There are websites now that will convert your book to an e-book for free. Seems a little paranoid for them to charge like that.

@Sherryl: An ebook and a final PDF are very different (unless you're referring to a PDF ebook which is unfortunately still used by some in the business who are having trouble keeping pace with the advancement of digital publishing). The ebook is xml and it's easy to make because all the work is done up front. The ebook maker creates an ingestion process (DTD or similar method) to recognize standard features of your manuscript: body text, chapter name, chapter number. That ingestion then tags your document and spits out final xml that your hardware (phone, ereader) can read.

PDFs to printer have been typeset and incur a cost each time they are created. (Ebooks incur a cost too, but this is mostly an artificial representation of time to ingest and the time/work to build the initial process.) Asking for an ebook and asking for a PDF is different, as are the costs associated with each.

@Joseph L. Selby

Kristin said in the post she asked for a PDF.

Wow, $250! I just paid $50 per copy for mine with one of my publishers. I wasn't exactly happy (I've received them for free in the past). Now $50 looks like a good deal!