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A writing friend told me that she once scored a book deal after touring a publishing house and being told by her tour guide what the publisher was looking for in children’s books. I doubt this happens much since most book publishers are in New York and not all of them give tours, but any opportunity a writer has to network with publishers can’t hurt.

I was fortunate to be able to visit one of my publishers, Royal Fireworks Press, in New York this summer. The press had purchased and published three of my books after discovering my work in the slush pile. (Submissions that come to a publisher without the aid of  an agent or any special contact are said to “go through the slush pile.”) After I’d sold each book, I spoke with the staff over the telephone and through e-mails, but until this summer, I had never met any of the staff in person. Tom Kemnitz, the president of the company, spoke with me in his office for about an hour and gave me a tour of the plant, showing me the book publishing process.

It  Tom Kemnitz and Ronica Stromberg at Royal Fireworks Press, the publisher of her books A Shadow in the Dark, Living It Up to Live It Down, and The Glass Inheritance.

I enjoyed seeing the inner workings of a small press and having the chance to speak about the market for my own books. And Tom did give me some good tips, one of which would be helpful to anyone considering submitting to this publisher:  Royal Fireworks Press is no longer publishing much science fiction. The press primarily publishes nonfiction, but in the fiction line, the acquisitions team is mainly seeking historical fiction.

My teen book Living It Up to Live It Down received a review on a teen reading site:  http://www.teensreadtoo.com/LivingItUpDown.html

The review was positive, although not 100 percent positive, but that’s the great thing about teens and younger kids:  they tend to give it to you straight.

I’m happy seeing proof that my books are getting into the hands of teens. True, this review comes almost two years after the book’s release, but it disproves teachers and parents who say teens don’t read. At least some teens still read full-length novels. I wonder if the numbers reading are truly that different from when I was a teen. I was an avid reader, but I don’t remember many of my friends or other teens enjoying reading as much as I did. They missed out.

The inspirational (Christian) market is selling increasingly more fiction, but what used to be a staple in the fiction has changed. In years past, inspirational fiction often included a conversion scene in which a character came to believe and trust in Jesus Christ. Now characters in inspirational fiction are more likely to already be Christians, and inspy books trace their journey as they grow stronger in their faith.

I think this change came as publishers of inspy fiction realized the people most likely to purchase their books are already Christians. The conversion scenes came to be viewed as a cliche, something tacked on to the end of a book to make it Christian (and, with high hopes, the reader). As it became clear that readers of inspy fiction are mainly Christians, the books focused less on evangelism and more on spiritual growth (besides the unchanging focus on entertainment).

I have mixed feelings about this change. My young adult novel, A Shadow in the Dark, includes a conversion scene while its companion book, Living It Up to Live It Down, follows the spiritual growth of two teens. I felt it important to include the conversion scene because, when I was a child, I’d searched for that in books but had difficulty finding it. I didn’t have much access to inspirational fiction, and the few inspy books I found always seemed to abbreviate the conversion scene.  The plot would build up to it, and then the conversion itself would be summed up in a brief sentence such as “They prayed.” After that, everything would be wonderful. I always wondered, What did they pray? I didn’t think there were any magical words one needed to say to be a Christian, but I craved an example nonetheless.

I still believe there are children and teens seeking spiritual insights in what they read–even as deep or basic as how to become a Christian–and the inspirational market should take that role and never let go.

One of my favorite bookstores, Burlington By the Book, is hosting a giveaway of more than $500 worth of books written by authors from Southeast Iowa. My book Living It Up to Live It Down is part of the prize that will go to one lucky reader. Drop in at the store at 301 Jefferson in downtown Burlington, Iowa, to register. The drawing is set for May 1, 2011.

Independent bookstores like Burlington By the Book and The Bookmark in nearby Fort Madison, Iowa, are treasures. I love being able to browse the latest releases firsthand and get personalized recommendations from the owners. I often end up going home with fascinating books I was unaware of before stepping into the store.

In larger cities, independents also seem to be a place cats claim as home. What better company for browsing books than a contented tabby?

As a book lover as well as an author, I’m thrilled to be a part of this independent bookstore’s event. It’s enough to get a bookworm dancing!

My two latest books, A Shadow in the Dark and Living It Up to Live It Down, came out in late October and have never had the advantage of being sold on Amazon. In fact, Amazon posted inaccurate information about the books (giving the wrong release dates for the book, saying they’re out of print, saying they’re hardcover when they’re actually paperbacks, and listing reading levels as 9 to 12 when the books are aimed at middle schoolers), and despite repeated requests from me to correct this information, they’ve refused. They won’t even post the cover images of the books, and the buy buttons are turned off.

Why?

Amazon has been requiring small publishers to provide books at steep discounts. One small publisher told me they require her to provide her books at a 65 percent discount. She is making no money on the books, but when Amazon accounts for 75 percent of the books sold out there, she can’t walk away from them either.

Royal Fireworks Press, the small publisher for my latest two books, did walk away. Amazon required the publisher to sell the books at a steep discount. At the end of the year, Amazon would return unsold books at the publisher’s expense. At the start of the new year, Amazon would request the same books back again. Royal Fireworks Press found themselves paying to ship books back and forth while losing money on any books sold at discount. The publisher stopped providing books to Amazon, and Amazon turned off the buy buttons for their books. 

I’ve seen similar pricing strategies and business practices used on the larger publishers of my books also. Most authors can buy their books at a 40 percent discount (plus the cost of shipping) to resell on their own. But new copies of my picture book appeared on Amazon at a 70 percent discount. Amazon customers could buy my books much cheaper than I could from my publisher.  In fact, independent bookstore owners have told me that they can buy books cheaper from Amazon than from their distributors. Where is an author’s royalty in all of this?

If you’ve followed publishing news lately, you’ve undoubtedly heard that Amazon ran into trouble trying to use similar high-discount pricing strategies with big publishers. Macmillan refused to sell e-books at the $9.99 ceiling Amazon set. Now Hachette and HarperCollins have joined in:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/bookselling/authors_guild_defends_macmillan_in_amazon_price_fight_150730.asp

I can understand Amazon’s desire to compete with Wal-Mart.com, but most books have a slim profit margin to begin with. It doesn’t cost as much to produce an e-book, but when the sale of those e-books cuts into the sales of hardcovers and paperbacks . . .  Well, even big-name publishers can withstand only so deep a discount. Macmillan said no to Amazon, and Amazon turned off the buy buttons for their books.

I’m hoping the big publishers win this war with Amazon, and that Amazon treats smaller publishers better too. I’d like to see the buy buttons turned on for my books. The books are not out of print. They’re available directly from Royal Fireworks Press at http://rfwp.com/series96.htm.

They’re great books! And without Amazon offering them, they’re never going to get any cheaper, so you might as well buy them when they’re new.