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Hello! It's been a little while. I've been traveling (see above) and working a lot for my day job, but I haven't forgotten about you. How could I, you're marvelous!
Here are some links I've noticed in the past few months.
Most relevant to my gap in blogging is this post by author Jennifer Hubbard about not writing. Sometimes you need a hiatus.
You may have written some longform journalism or a personal essay. What do you need to know to turn that into a full-length book? Read this indispensable article by editor Peter Ginna. (via Janet Reid)
So have you ever thought about what consciousness really is? Like, why are we awake? Why are we here? Are other animals actually conscious? What about a jellyfish? AM I BLOWING YOUR MIND YET?? No? Well, this video on scientists who are trying to solve the mystery of consciousness may do a better job.
My time has been stretched in the past few weeks due to travel and moving (to Manhattan of all places), but I am now hoping to return to a semi-regular schedule. Hello! Nice to see you.
I've been collecting lots of links over the past few months. Let's see what we've got.
First up, this coming Saturday I'm going to be speaking at the Writers Digest Conference in NYC. There's still time to register! I'll be talking about staying sane during the writing process, which seems like it's not possible but I SWEAR that if you do these things... okay yeah it's not totally possible.
The BookEnds blog is back with a vengeance (well, it's back with some smart and author-informative posts). Some recent ones I took note of are how you should think twice before granting an agent an exclusive, and how if you are seeking publication, it's important that you don't think of it as a hobby, but as a job. That means buckling down, setting deadlines, and pushing through, especially when you don't have the luxury of time. And maybe you should put some thought into your query.
The juggernaut of a franchise known as James Patterson (who also I believe is the name of a writer too), is starting a children's imprint with Little, Brown. And oh by the way Patterson's novels have now sold over 300 million copies.
E.L. James has a new book out, Grey, told from the perspective of Christian Grey, natch. The sequel I'm waiting for is the novel told from the perspective of Charlie Tango, Christian Grey's helicopter. E.L. James, I'll get you started!
I was born in a warehouse, but I'm so much more than that. They told me I should just fly, hover, do my job reliably, and someday be sold for scrap metal after a long career. They told me I could never attract the attention of a self-made billionaire with a fondness for girls who bite their lips.
They were wrong.
I give my inner helicoptress a high five as I settled into the SeaTac tarmac, obeying Christian Grey's skillful, artful commands. If I had a lip I would bite it and shyly mumble my appreciation.
If only they could see me now.
YOU KNOW YOU WOULD BUY THIS BOOK.
Ahem.
We all know that writing can be a solitary pursuit, and it can sometimes be tricky to get things done at home when there are things like chores and TV and people who call themselves "family members" trying to distract you. Behold, the rise of the writer's space.
There are a lot of writing competitions out there, some more reputable than others. Writer Beware takes a look at some of the red flags.
Remind me not to announce job changes on April Fool's Day.
But to circle back, yes, it's real that I'm now working for a hedge fund. I know! I'm hoping that blogging will pick up as I get used to my routine, but my new job will prevent me from being very active on social media during working hours. I'll still pre-schedule posts to appear midday, but I probably won't be tweeting until night. Even more than before, the best way to keep up with new posts is to subscribe via email.
It's been a while since I've done a link roundup, and I have quite a few to share! Let's get to it.
First and most importantly, a belated congrats to JSC for winning the Blog Bracket Challenge! One of these years I'm going to win this thing, but lord knows it's not going to be a year where Duke wins it all.
Julie Strauss-Gabel is a powerhouse editor who edits a slew of bestselling authors, including a guy named John Green, and her very honest edits make the whole thing work. The New York Times has a great profile of her.
After completing several different projects that were consuming a large portion of my time I'm hoping to now return to more normal blogging activities. Famous last words.
Anyway! I've been saving up links for the last million weeks and here is a roundup.
Don't you want to prepare for your inevitable life as a bestselling author? Of course you do. Here are 10 tips for being a bestselling author by Sophie Kinsella.
Amazon released a new version of the Kindle, the Kindle Voyage, which Farhad Manjoo pronounced better than a hardcover.
Benjamin Dreyer, VP Executive Managing Editor & Copy Chief of Random House, has an awesome post explaining some of the very common things that trip up writers, like beside/besides, blond/blonde and much much more.
There were 458,564 self-published books in 2013. Yes, really.
First up, friend of the blog Stephen Parrish is conducting a fundraiser to establish a fellowship in honor of Christine Eldin, a beloved member of the writing community who passed away a few years ago. Please check out the fellowship page, as well as the fundraising page on Indiegogo, where there are many quality items up for bid.
Now that Amazon has launched Amazon Unlimited, the Netflix-for-books-ish subscription service, should self-published authors opt their books in? David Gaughran investigates.
Have independent bookstores improbably weathered the e-book transition better than chain stores and are they even on the rise? Zachary Karabell makes the case in Slate.
And finally, today is iPhone 6 release day! My good friends at CNET have all the latest reviews. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an iPhone 6 to play with.
Have a great weekend!
0 Comments on The Past Few Week in Books 9/19/14 as of 9/19/2014 1:50:00 PM
Penguin Random House unveiled their new logo, disappointing everyone who hoped it would be a penguin standing in front of a house. Here is what they come up with instead:
Agent Kristin Nelson has an important reminder for all authors: read your contracts.
It's been an interesting past few weeks! I had a fantastic time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Writers' Institute, great meeting all of the writers there, including longtime reader Alison Coffey, who you may know as commenter ABC. Though I was sorry to watch the Badgers lose in the Final Four.
Speaking of the Final Four, propelled his successful choice of UConn to win it all, longtime friend-o-the-blog Peter Dudley won the 2014 Blog Bracket Challenge! Peter, you know where to find me for the prize.
Meanwhile, some interesting links caught my eye in the past few weeks. Here they are.
Lots and lots and lots of good stuff. Let's get started.
Should books come out faster? The idea has long taken hold with self-publishing, but it's percolating elsewhere. Even traditional publishing imprints are experimenting with releasing series as fast as possible.
Are you putting off reading the rest of this article? Maybe this is why.
Lots of good links from the last few weeks, let's get to it!
It's been tough sledding for Barnes & Noble lately. On the heels of announcing earlier in the year that they plan to shutter one third of their stores (link is to CNET, I work there), they had an earnings call this week in which they revealed that their Nook business is struggling, with losses at $190.4 million. Publisher/editor Peter Osnos notes that B&N has not benefitted greatly from the Borders bankruptcy and wonders if the large chain bookstore is endangered (something I blogged about two years ago), though it should be noted that the stores themselves are still profitable.
The last of the publishers sued by the Department of Justice for conspiring to raise e-books has settled. In a letter to authors, Macmillan CEO John Sargent said "Our company is not large enough to risk a worst case judgment."Apple has not yet settled.
Meanwhile, publishing consultant Mike Shatzkin has an interesting look at some possible directions for the future of e-bookselling, which could get more atomized and dispersed across the Internet rather than concentrated solely with the large online vendors.
Working with publishers can occasionally be quite frustrating, as one author and independent bookstore recently discovered. When the bookstore wanted to order 450 copies the publisher refused to give them more than 200 (Why? Because they don't do things that way), so the bookstore ended up going to Target to get the books instead.
In writing advice news, Donna Thorland has advice on book trailers, Natalie Whipple has a great post on some of the different things to consider when building a setting.
Atari's co-founder has launched a new venture that hopes to make the self-publishing process much easier by giving authors the ability to contract out different parts of the process in exchange for flat rates or royalties.
The Forums!! I have been receiving lots and lots of writing and publishing questions lately, and time constraints prevent me from answering them all. To save time and to hopefully benefit more people, I answer publicly in the Forums, where I am happy to answer any publishing question I can right here. You can also review previous questions.
Yeah, the interview was great :). And so was the article about the different paths to success. I remember reading about Ben Fountain's long road to success in Poets & Writers. Pretty amazing, especially his wife.
Barnes & Noble got a long-needed thumping. Some of the executive arrogance was gone from the financial report and the conference call.
In particular, they seem to have learned that when someone is thinking about buying a tablet, the name B&N doesn't spring to mind. That should've been obvious, but I guess it wasn't.
They still don't seem inclined to listen to their customers, though. The executives clearly know better what their customers want than the customers themselves do.
Their BN.com operation continues to lose them money after more than fifteen years, but all they had to say about that was "we're repositioning [it]." I don't know what that means. Are they going to clean up the user reviews? Are they going to start moderating their forums? Are they going to have people updating the site on weekends, so that Amazon doesn't get a 2-day jump on new titles and reduced prices?
B&N execs don't seem to grasp just how infuriating the Philippine customer disservice operation they've used for the past couple of years is. Nothing at all was said in the financial reports or the conference call about this matter.
B&N is a long way from financial collapse, but they've been bankrupt in customer-orientation for a long time. I don't know if the B&N execs don't notice, or if they just don't care.
Loved the Gladwell article, particularly since I have a Ben Fountain novel sitting on my top To Be Read Shelf.
Anonymous said, on 3/1/2013 12:53:00 PM
I have never understood B&N's move away from stocking their store with actual, you know, BOOKS. Especially with Borders gone, they had a chance to increase their power as a place to go browse, read, and hang out.
Instead they took up prime retail space selling e-readers. (If I wanted to read online, I'd be home in my pajamas reading online; I wouldn't have come all the way out to the store!) Instead they started carrying fewer books, stocking their stores with random junk you don't go to a bookstore to buy.
If they want to prepare for a movement of the market away from print books, they should work on their cafe space. Make it even more friendly as a place to plug in, read, write, meet friends. The cafes are already there, and they provide an experience that shopping online at home doesn't.
Being sued for 'breathtaking amounts' because a publishing company has supposedly conspired to raise the cost of ebooks sounds a bit insane to me. I mean, surely, companies can charge whatever they want for their own product? Could this whole thing be a kind of money-grab by a Government Dept?
However, on second thoughts, I suppose the charge refers to the major companies supposedly making an agreement whereby they're not going to undercut each other on a certain price for a certain product - ebooks. Again, I don't see a problem, really, especially as independent publishers and self-publishers could then gain an advantage by charging much smaller amounts for their ebooks. I imagine that indies and self-publishers would have a harder time making sales, so being able to undercut the big boys would help the aforementioned find their own niche in the market.
Folk who would rather pay less for ebooks might have a case for being disgruntled, but then we'd all rather pay less for everything not just ebooks. And with larger companies more people need a slice of the pie, so it makes sense that their products would cost more than those of someone doing it alone or with only a few people involved.
I don't know how you keep up with all the changes. I rely on you to find the news. Thanks for doing the hard work that only requires me following links!
I thought the story about how the bookseller went and bought books at Target was pretty funny. You can't even chalk that up to Publishing practices - that's more about bureaucracy, and how crazy it gets! :)
On the other hand, it's noticeable that when all the stories about sock puppet reviews were going around, there were letters of protest, and much gnashing of teeth and pointing of fingers. But authors talking about buying their way onto bestsellers lists - with the blessing and guidance of their publishers? Where's the hair pulling and the accusations and the righteousness about that?
Seems like a double standard.
Although, on a - not a double standard note - I wish they would stop giving Barnes and Noble a hard time. Seems like there's an article every few hours about how Barnes and Noble is messing up. I wish they would leave Barnes and Noble alone for awhile, ease up on the pressure and let them think.
The records as book covers were pretty funny.
And I liked your interview, although I'm holding out for the 'elephant in the room' or maybe the 'middle-aged' Mick. :)
@Wendy - I'm not an expert, but from my understanding, no, this wasn't a money grab.
What the Publishers did was white collar crime. It was a felony that could have meant not only heavy fines, but jail time. The reason the penalties are so stiff is to discourage corporations from doing this. They can make ALOT of money through anti-trust actions (which is what this was), so the penalites have to be even higher to make it a very unappealing option if they get caught.
Five Publishers were sued not for raising prices, but for getting together to control the market. They all cut a deal with Apple, and then forced Amazon to take the same deal.
Coporations are not supposed to:
a. Get together and agree on a policy.
b. Force a less preferred retailer (Amazon) to accept it.
This is about competition. Business are supposed to be in competition with one another, they are not supposed to get together to try to control the marketplace, and hurt one retailer over another.
The point of this is to protect the free marketplace. If we didn't have anti-trust laws, we'd probably have one big corporation that controlled everything as it amassed all the wealth. It would be a corporate dictatorship, and no, I'm not exaggerating. This is why a free and competitive marketplace is such a big deal. Competition is supposed to help protect the consumer against corporate greed.
What the Publishers did cost Amazon money, and it cost the consumers money, too. Several States have successfully sued to get the consumers their money back. But the real issue is the llegal collusion.
I hope that all made sense, like I said, I'm not an expert. You could google 'anti-trust' law and get alot more information.
You know, I saw those Calvin and Hobbes photos and I'm not sorry for the guy. There was absolutely no credit given to Bill Watterson on the post I saw. I realize that doesn't mitigate copyright issues, but it struck me as incredibly rude.
Thank you for the updates, Nathan! I just read your old post discussing the idea that bookstores may go the way of the old record stores. I totally agree with you.
We had a lovely little independent bookstore downtown in my New England suburb. Back in October of 2007, Borders opened up a huge store in a newly built shopping plaza about a three-minute drive from downtown. The indie store survived for a little while longer, but eventually most everyone started shopping at Borders instead. It was a sad day when the indie store went out, but I couldn't really blame anyone for choosing the corporate giant, with all the advantages it offered.
Then, almost two years ago, I saw the standard email from the CEO of Borders announcing the closing of the business. I actually wrote an open letter response outlining what I believe to be the formula for success when it comes to brick and mortar bookstores. They have to give the consumer something an online store simply cannot, in the form of face-to-face interaction.
Amazon has many great forums, but it's not the same as getting together with a group of people in person and passionately discussing a book you've all read. The immediate back-and-forth dialogue, the constant interruption of each other because you wholeheartedly agree or passionately disagree.
You must create a place where local authors come and speak, and university professors offer lectures, a place where people get to know their neighbors over a cup of coffee and some lively discussion. You have to build a literary community center...that also sells books.
Sorry for the long comment—I’m really passionate about this subject!
The library in Google's New York office. Photo by me.
2012 was a year of hurricanes and recovery, tragedies and an election, divisions and compromise, promise and ominousness. The apocalypse didn't take place, but the future does not feel won. The new millennium is transitioning from a rocky adolescence into a turbulent adulthood and it's difficult to say where things are going to go. The economic malaise feels more like a labyrinth than a long, deep tunnel.
2012 was the year that social media went from fad to fact of life, so much so that way may stop talking about it as anything other than our new, interconnected reality, in the way that we stopped breathlessly discussing the Web and the Information Superhighway at the end of last decade. (2013 should also be the year we retro-cool the term "The 'Net" back into parlance).
Books and magazines have enjoyed a near monopoly in portable handheld entertainment for a hundred years (Game Boys and other handhelds notwithstanding), but if they can't compete with the other diversions on an iPad, books may (start? continue?) a long slide in cultural consciousness and possibly sales. If people aren't going to read books with what's already in their hands, when are they going to read?
2013 looks to be the year when even takeoff and landing, that last refuge of print monopoly and "my paperback doesn't need batteries" joshing, may be electronically-integrated.
And demonstrating the power of the rise of social media and cover-concealing e-readers and tablets, Fifty Shades of Grey catapulted from obscurity to cultural phenomenon. It's hard to imagine a book that better demonstrates the potency of the forces shaping our new crowd-driven, gatekeeper-less culture.
And for me personally, 2013 is a truly new start. I'm back in Brooklyn, the Jacob Wonderbar trilogy will wrap in just a month with the publication of Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp, and I'm very excited about new projects and new beginnings.
Meanwhile, thanks to everyone for your generosity with our recent Heifer fundraiser, and especially to the other participants, whose blogs you should definitely check out:
Proving the power of social media, tweets surpassed blog comments for the first time in my fundraiser, and there were nearly 250 between the two. I went ahead and rounded up my $2 pledge:
Happy New Year, have a safe and prosperous 2013, and thank you so much to everyone for reading this blog!
20 Comments on This Year in Books 2012, last added: 1/6/2013
Hopefully I can speak for all your dedicated readers when I say Happy New Year, Nathan! We are glad you are here, keeping us informed, educated, entertained, and often laughing. And I'm glad you posted today because I was beginning to feel withdrawal.
Great 2012 for you with more in the works for 2013 it sounds like. Glad I found your blog-- all the best to you and all writers in the coming year as we trek the maze of writing and publication (what IS around that corner?).
Happy 2013! You'll feel better about the "transitioning from a rocky adolescence into a turbulent adulthood" when you remember 13 is the beginning of the TEEN years. That adulthood option won't show until 2020...
I propose that 2013 be the year we stop anticipating things will fall over cliffs. Be it economic or technological (or even boulders pushed by wiley coyotes). No more cliffs. The world is going back to being flat.
Happy New Year! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and life with us; it's been a lovely year of reading your blog & I look forward to reading about your fun adventures in life/writing for 2013. :)
Happy New Year, Nathan. Through this blog you seem like an old friend even though we've ne'er met. May many more successes and happy adventures come your way.
Do your books (in the electronic versions)include animations? I'm guessing your audience would love cartoon characters that talk and wave their hands in the air.
They don't, but I'd like them to! I actually wanted an animated cover.
Anonymous said, on 1/2/2013 8:20:00 AM
A nice part of Timeline is that you can go back to when you started on FB and check out your earliest status updates. I go back to early 2008, and I was surprised to see how differently I was posting back them. And how I wasn't taking FB seriously. Now I use it for family and tons of other things. Sometimes even more than e-mail with private messaging. And such good gossip...lol.
I guess it's evolution, kind of like how nicely you continue to evolove as a blogger and author, Nathan. Happy New Year!
Anonymous said, on 1/2/2013 12:37:00 PM
Yvette Carol said:
Nice work on the donation, Nathan. I thought that you did a particularly good round-up of the year that was, too! Good luck with your next book. :-)
And I'll be reading books in one form or another until they me in the ground. Or until they take away my fix, Fahrenheit 451-style. But I have confidence in the Black Market.
Somehow I missed this whole Heifer fundraiser -- what a great idea. I donated to them for the first time this year (let's hear it for a new goat!), and now that I see this, I'll totally be participating next year through my blog. Too bad I missed it! Mad props, Nathan. And congrats on all your success.
You know, it's interesting. There are alot of articles popping up about the slow down of e-books. I believe these articles are...misguided.
First of all, no one has any real, true data, because Amazon isn't sharing. So, all of the charts and comparisons are just guesses. Shatzkin even admits his article is based on a guess.
As for the transfer from dedicated readers to tablets, I don't believe that means reading will slow. Actually, it's more likely to make books even more accessible.
Tablets don't add competition, the competition is already there. It just centralizes access, and adds to the ease of access to books. The reality is, the more tablets gain prominence, the more reading will probably increase. And the more likely the switch to digital books will become.
I think there may be alot of wishful thinking out there. People who have a stake in print, and want print to remain vital.
But the reality is that a powerful new techology has come on-board, and it will replace the old one. Has there ever been a time in the history of mankind when that didn't happen?
Meanwhile, NO COINCIDENCE AT ALL, the University of Cambridge is forming a unit to assess whether developments in artificial intelligence pose a threat to humanity. (Disclosure: Link is to CNET, I work there).
So yeah. It's been a month since Hurricane Sandy, and even aside from the fact that it proves that Mother Nature has turned psychotic, many people remarked on how social media changed the experience of going through the storm. It certainly felt that way for me - I kept tabs on friends here and heard from lots of people wondering how I was doing (I was fine). New York Magazine had what I thought was the best take on that phenomenon.
Speaking of hurricanes, (and let me get the disclaimer out of the way first: I work for CNET, which is owned by CBS, which owns Simon & Schuster. All opinions expressed on this blog are my own, I don't have knowledge of S&S's publishing operations, and linking to outside blogs doesn't necessarily mean I endorse the opinions espoused therein), Simon & Schuster has entered into a relationship with controversial publishing operation Author Solutions. Friend-of-the-blog David Gaughran launched a broadside against the arrangement.
Ken Liu's short story 'Paper Managerie' has won pretty much every award ever, and you can read it over at io9.
A new app called Litragger has launched, which aggregates all kinds of literary journals in once place. Pretty cool.
And finally, I seriously have no idea how this photographer pulled off this time-lapse of the leaves changing in Central Park, but it's utterly spectacular:
I won NaNoWriMo on my first year! Yay! And I will never be doing that again. (That I know of, heh.)
Really difficult to do with a full time job.
Anonymous said, on 11/30/2012 9:51:00 AM
Writer Beware has a lot to say about the Simon and Schuster deal. The whole thing looks questionable, but it really bothers me if S&S plans to send unsolicited manuscripts directly to a dubious company.
Oh man, that story! I am crying and I am at work and now I have to pretend my allergies are bad. A good example of how one doesn't have to be so writerly or use flowery language to tell a wonderful story.
It was my first year doing NaNoWriMo and I went in completely terrified, having only written short stories in the past. But I passed the goal and almost tripled the goal. I learned a lot from the experience. The number one revelation being that I can get out 4000 well thought out words each day, easily.
I am really glad I went for it. Now I have a manuscript and a half that are ready to go into revisions and edits. Best experience ever.
Congratulations to all the NaNoers. Remember, even if you didn't reach your goal word count or finish a draft, you ended the month with a lot more words than you started!
And thanks for the video of the Annual Retreat of Chlorophyll. What, nobody else thinks of fall in those terms? ;-)
Wow. What a jam packed blog post. And about that NaNoWriMo...I joined three years ago and started a great novel. Might even finish it now. At least it got me started!
The time-lapse video was amazing, and thanks for the link to Ken Liu's short story. I thought it was amazing, but golly gosh, all of those negative comments about it just shocked me to death!
That video is incredible. I also have no idea how he could have done that! Amazing!
Anonymous said, on 12/4/2012 9:25:00 PM
What has been written about the S&S deal says it best in the link you provided. But I think it is important for all writers who are thinking of indie/self publishing to know that they don't have to spend that kind of money and they should be concectrating on e-books not print. And being that most sales come from Amazon, like them or not, it stands to reason that KDP would be the best choice. I can only conclude that S&S went into this because they just don't get it. Nothing else makes sense. Any self-publishes author making money now is laughing at S&S.
MHPAUTHOR said, on 12/8/2012 9:12:00 PM
In my humble opinion, writers are like gold miners. Each struggles to find the elusive big strike, but often times to no avail. Along the way, tradesmen selling everything from food to clothing to picks and shovels make money regardless of the miner's outcome. Same can be said for the poor unfortunate author who rarely sees success, but his editor, cover artist and publisher make money regardless of the sales.
The only constant is that the writer will still write as the gold miner still mines. There are a few who find immense riches and popularity, but they are a fraction of the multitudes who don't even see a return on their time and investment. However, if one believes in their art, their claim if you will, they can not stop. To do so is a declaration of their loss of the passion and desire that binds one to the initial art and all that it consumes...
It's been a while since I've done a link roundup, but I'm starting to get settled in New York and hope to begin moving to a slightly more normal schedule. Famous last words! These links may stretch back a while.
Random Penguin? Penguin House? People have long speculated that there would be consolidation in the publishing industry, and now Pearson has confirmed that they are talking consolidation. It will be very interesting to see whether this comes to pass and how it plays out.
There have been a few articles lately about how the publishingpocalypse has not exactly come to pass, no matter what breathless doomsday predictions you may have heard in the past few years. In The Atlantic, Peter Osnos writes that the industry is adapting well to the e-reader era, and Mike Shatzkin writes that Amazon's publishing wing is not yet a threat to publishers.
Book Riot has a great take on Gillian Flynn and Gone Girl, one of my favorite books of the year, writing about how genre fiction sometimes doesn't get the same social commentary cred as more "serious" literary fiction.
Butterfly in the sky, Reading Rainbow is back! This time in app form.
You've probably already read this, tweeted it and had a flame war, but there was quite the controversy a few months back about sockpuppet Amazon reviews and the authors who have used them.
And finally, for all you cooking fans out there, one of my friends has started a really cool site, Cook Smarts, devoted to recipes and learning new techniques in the kitchen. I highly, highly recommend her newsletter, which delivers some awesome recipes straight to your inbox every week.
And finally, finally, Apple released another big player in the e-reader world with the iPad Mini. Here's CNET's first look at the new game-changer (disclosure: CNET is where I work):
Have a great weekend!
13 Comments on This Week in Books 10/25/12, last added: 11/2/2012
I totally forgot it was Friday until I saw this post. "This Week in Books...wait, it's not Fri--oh, it is!"
Good for Book Riot. This has often been a rant of mine. I love genre fiction because I feel that its use of alternate worlds (whether they're ours with a tweak or completely different) provides a great opportunity for social commentary. When the world is different, the things that remain the same make a bigger impact, especially the social issues!
Anonymous said, on 10/26/2012 1:36:00 PM
Re Penguin suing authors: The authors were paid advances and didn't deliver the books. Wouldn't it be better if the books were written before pitching them to the editor and being paid on them?
"You've probably already read this, tweeted it and had a flame war"
Ha, ha! Classic. :)
So, it's I think it's just plain mean for Penguin to be suing authors years after Penguin let the projects drop. Because they did let these projects drop. Editors left, etc. It's not unusual for publishers to write off small advances like this, and why should the authors in this case think any differently?
Penguin is being a big bully. Now, the authors have to pony up interest, legal fees, etc. (Obviously Penguin is doing this to get the money back, otherwise, they'd just go through the agent and work with the client to finish the book). If Penguin lost interest in the project, they should have asked for the money at deadline.
Makes me mad.
Maybe I'll go start a flame war. ;)
Thanks for the links, Nathan - Glad you're settling into New York!
Publishers aren't running a charity. If they have signed contracts with writers that are not delivering products, it makes sense for them to take action.
Of course, putting on my business hat, this really hurts relationships. Now, if the author had already provided good product in the past, I can see the publisher waiting a little bit longer. But if this is the first work by a writer, then I can see the publisher launching a missile in the writer's direction.
Why do folks fail to see that publishing is a business? This boggles my mind.
Whew! It's been a little while since our last link roundup and I have quite a few links to share.
But! First! I'm hoping to be on a rather fantastic social media panel at South By Southwest 2013 with such luminaries as Veronica Belmont, Brian Tong and Maya Grinberg but I need your help! Please vote for our panel, Social Media Shootout, at the SXSW Panel Picker site. Registering is easy, I promise.
Now then, on to the links.
So I don't know if you've noticed, but the Internet happens to be rather awesome. One side effect of Internet awesomeness is that literary agent scams are on the wane, but, as Author Beware points out, they still exist so please be vigilant.
In case you missed it (or, as the kids now say, #ICYMI), NPR released a list of the 100 best ever teen novels of all time, quite a few of which were not exactly teen novels.
If you want to be challenged in a different way, you may wish to know that Fifty Shades of Grey is the UK's bestselling book of all time.
Fifty James author E.L. James may top this list next year, but for now, James Patterson is still the world's top earning earning authors, with a cool $94 million in the past year.
And there was quite a bru-ha-ha over a site called Lendink, which used a legal mechanism for lending e-books, which many authors freaked out about. Writer Beware used it as a cautionary about the need for Internet restraint.
Comment! Of! The! Week! A.C. Tidwell wrote a fantastically interesting response to the post about whether the publishing industry does or doesn't care about good writing. It's long, but I want to print it in full:
I think that the publishing industry has a rich history of setting the bar of what is considered posh and what is considered subpar. I also think there is something to be said for writing that qualifies as high quality (tight prose, language, requires something from readers, thought provoking, cerebral) and something that is low quality (uses tropes and not for satire, follows a paint-by-numbers structure, reuses character-types from pop culture or Mary Sue archetypes, poor prose, abundance of dead metaphors, plot heavy). One affects you long after you put it down. The other is easy. So, I actually think that the publishing industry is an excellent buffer against most subpar writing. With mass media, internet, and indie publishing, there is a large amount of mediocre to poor writers out there. The market is oversaturated. But this doesn’t reflect the industry, per se, it reflects our society. In America, in particular, we ask very little from our literature, television or film. Instead we want to be entertained in a non-thought provoking way. This is a symptom of our times and the stress of recession. Art generally falls by the wayside in terms making us thoughtful consumers. We want escapism and safety when we have to worry about unemployment and food. It’s why we’ll read the same type of romance or sci-fi story over and over, knowing exactly how it will end, the only difference being character names and slight alterations in plot. Our reading standards decrease, because, hey we’ve done this before…I know how it ends…and that is one less thing to worry about.
I haven’t read Shades of Gray but I do remember when Twilight came out. I couldn’t simply dismiss it so I had to do research. So after reading the series I asked my students what appealed to them. It turns out it was a romance they’d heard before, written in the same type of wish-fulfillment fantasy that Hollywood makes large profits on. They were never really concerned with the outcome. Instead, the story gathered all the filmmaking and gothic romance tropes together in one place. It was icing. The sweet part without the cake.
I think the publishing industry should keep their standards and perhaps make them even more rigorous. I know that is disappointing to hear but take it with a grain of salt because it’s all relative. Having said that, I think that indie publishing is the place for fanfiction to grow. Everyone wants to be a writer. I’ve seen an explosion in the amount of students queued for my classes. It’s good for the market as a whole as it brings in new readers. I also think that big publishing should be hesitant to jump into that pool completely. For one, it will delegitimize the industry, something that will only be realized in 20 years when they look back at the current trend and say, “Oh right. How could we have thought The Bachelor could win us an Emmy?” But don’t shun it either. Hold writing contests with submission fees and award small publishing prizes for amateur fan fiction writers. Recognize the group and make a profit too. But at the same time, publishers have to realize it’s a temporary niche market. Very few people will quote Shades of Gray in twenty years. Remember to leave room for the other writers who we will be talking about. When our society no longer just wants to sit down and let a low quality book just wash over them, I can only hope we don’t ignore the next Fitzgerald simply because he/she didn’t sell an extraordinary amount of books on Amazon. We just can’t let that dictate greatness. Sorry for the long post.
And finally, I've been loving Best Coast's new album lately. Summer is almost over but enjoy it while you can!
Have a great weekend!
13 Comments on These Past Few Weeks in Books 8/24/12, last added: 9/8/2012
And I agree, everyone wants to be a writer these days. I especially liked the comment: 'Very few people will quote Shades of Gray in twenty years.' (another Lolita)
Bulwer-Lytton: Purposeful exercises in overwrought, purple, over-the-top description. You can't help but love whoever wins each year.
I don't get to claim intellectual superiority with the most difficult books list, because I haven't read any of them. However, I have read books by several of those authors. That counts, right?
Thanks for the roundup, especially the link to Parrish's contest.
Anonymous said, on 8/24/2012 7:11:00 PM
Hi Nathan,
Thank you very much for the links. I always look forward to this specific weekly feature because it narrows down some good reads (since I cant read everything or find everything on my own :) ).
I'd like to know your thought on the site above that has the flash fiction contest. It's great to see you link it because now I know it is safe and legitimate. But I'm wondering, for someone like me (very new to writing, no crit partners, still finding my way), would it be silly for me to send something in ? I think (I'm not sure) that from what I read on the site there, they post all entries ? I worry about jumping too soon and posting up something foolish and tragic with my name on it and looking back after a while (when my writing is more advanced) and thinking "oh crap" :) Any thoughts on how to navigate those kinds of waters when still so new and *rough* with writing and not wanting to screw up (publicly)?
Anonymous said, on 8/24/2012 7:20:00 PM
Wow, James Patterson is ...just wow.
I read an article linked within the article you linked and was surprised to see Stephen King call him a "terrible writer" (or so the article said). Now I'm curious.
I'm starting to wonder just how many published authors out there are likable. Or how many of them dislike (publicly) one another. I never follow those things so I guess it never struck me it occurred. Obviously I live an isolated life!
I admit that the only James Patterson books I've read are directed to MG/childrens. Oh well! Apparently he has enough readers anyway :)
I'm curious to hear what you think about authors on places like goodreads, Nathan. Can an aspiring or new author give honest reviews to books, even if he really hated a few? Or could this be something that comes back to haunt you?
I've noticed that many YA authors on the site only give positive 4-5 star reviews, which makes me question their veracity, or perhaps they're only reviewing the books they liked. Either way, a self censorship of some kind is happening because not everything you read is going to be awesome.
Anonymous said, on 8/25/2012 8:28:00 PM
Re the above comment with goodreads...can I go on goodreads just to track my read books , but NOT rate them ? (i don't care if others rate books, if that's what they like to do; but I don't I guess...to each their own!). For example, some of my literary friends would cringe at "Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder" but I thought it was great :)
I like the new site by Stephen Parrish, and another regular around here, Peter Dudley, it looks very cool. That type of collective is a terrific way for writers to network and have their work be shown - both the site bloggers, and those who visit. Great idea!
The Button-Lytton entries were hilarious.
A.C. Tidwell wrote a great post. I don't agree with everything Tidwell said, but I think the argument was compelling and eloquent.
So, I'm not sure e-book sales are leveling off. I don't know why Shatzkin thinks so, I can't access the report he credits, but it's counter-intuitive. From what I understand, e-books are just entering International markets. For example, Amazon just launched a Kindle store in India this week. Schools are making e-readers available to classes, textbooks are moving into the digital market, movies are starting to give e-books for free if you come buy a ticket. E-books are mainstreaming as we speak.
So, if it's slowing, I suspect it's just a temporary lull.
Besides, e-book prices have been kept artificially high. It will be interesting to see the impact on the market if/when the DOJ settlements are approved, and prices start to lower.
Thanks for the list of the top teen novels, I made a few bookmarks to look into them. And the list of the most difficult books - I made bookmarks of those to avoid!
This is the second story you've linked to, Nathan, that claimed some super-selling status to "Fifty Shades of Self-Loathing" and in both articles I felt the wording was a little odd and very few details were given. I think these are promotional press-releases and probably give an exaggerated impression of the popularity of the books. Sure, they're selling a lot - especially given all the hype and the "forbidden" nature of the content. But check out this wiki article.
Relatively quiet weeks in books as the dog days of summer are here, but I spotted a few good ones for you. As always, please share the best ones you saw in the comments section!
Colson Whitehead, who is spectacular on Twitter, is equally spectacular in the pages of the NY Times as he has 11 rules for writing, some of which are hilariously dubious. My favorite is #8.
The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy has now outsold the Harry Potter series on Amazon UK. Yes, really.
Probably not a coincidence that another self-published book that started as Twilight fan fiction just sold for seven figures.
Who says agents aren't embracing the future? Agent Ted Weinstein built a widget that allows you to sell books from multiple vendors on your blog or website. Check it out.
I am an American man, and I have decided to boycott American women. In a nutshell, American women are the most likely to cheat on you, to divorce you, to get fat, to steal half of your money in the divorce courts, don't know how to cook or clean, don't want to have children, etc. Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?
American women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least.
This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women.
Tens of millions of American men have had their lives completely destroyed by American women through the following crimes:
1. False rape accusations (it has been proven that up to 80 percent of rape accusations are FALSE)
2. False domestic violence (DV) charges (same as above)
3. Financial destruction of men in divorce courts through alimony and support payments (women get up to 95 percent of their ex-husband's income and savings, as well as the house, car, etc)
4. Emotional destruction of men by ex-wives who have stolen their children from them and forbidden the fathers from having custody or contact with their own children
5. Divorced dads who commit suicide as a result
Not one single American woman has EVER condemned their fellow American women for committing these crimes against men. Silence means consent. Therefore, American women support and enjoy destroying men's lives and causing men to commit suicide. Apparently, American women think it is okay to be a criminal, just as long as you are a woman. Therefore, is it any surprise that a huge percent of American men no longer want anything to do with American women, other than using them for easy sex and then throwing them away?
A few more reasons to stay away from American women?
-25 percent of American women take psychiatric drugs for mental illnesses. -25 percent of women under the age of 30 have at least one STD. -85 percent of divorces in America are INITIATED by women, thus women are responsible for the vast majority of divorces. -70 percent of criminals in America were raised by single mothers, thus feminism is responsible for most crime in America. -The majority of child molestation, child abuse, and child murder in America is done by WOMEN.
Over 50 percent of American women are single, without a boyfriend or husband; so the fact is most American men no longer want to marry American women. Let these worthless American women grow old living alone with their 10 cats.
I thought the Colson Whitehead article was hilarious. I liked the one about the land shark best. Funny.
So, I have a theory about why 50 Shades is selling so well. I think it's because you can read it on an e-book, and NO ONE WILL KNOW. Pair that with the current state of semi-legitimacy that its found, and you have a winner.
I think that widget from Ted Weinstein is awesome!
I liked that Shaskin addressed the question of value added by the publisher - I like that he is taking up author concerns!
I didn't like the book cover/bikini matching because there were no men in bikinis. Where are the bikini men? That's a link I would 'like'.
I thought the thread on the forums about how publishers are planning to re-write some classics (Pride and Prejudice, etc.) with an erotic slant was fascinating. So many interesting issues there.
So, I do have a link I want to share. I thought this was cool. It's book art, for example a castle made of books. You can't see it in the pictures, but they carefully selected the title and placement of the books to match the theme. Wouldn't it be cool to walk in the tower and read the titles?
Whew! Lots and lots of links to share with you from the last few weeks, so let's get straight to it.
Very sad news as one of my very very favorite writers as a child, and then one of my very very favorite writers I had the privilege of working with in the publishing industry, passed away recently. Jean Craighead George was the author of Julie of the Wolves and My Side of the Mountain, and a seriously wonderful person. She will be very very missed.
Some serious news from a publisher as Houghton Mifflin, saddled with debts and liabilities of over $1 billion, filed for bankruptcy.
Have a self-published novel and want it to get stocked by a bookstore? Might be helpful to see how things look from the other side. Here's a guide to stocking self-published novels... for booksellers (via The Millions).
Industry sage Mike Shatzkin wrote an open letter to the DOJ about the collusion lawsuit and settlement, raising some objections on technical grounds. I feel like there's been a whole lot of mud flung against people who are opposed to the lawsuit, and everyone would do themselves a favor by absorbing this letter and seeing that, agree or disagree, there are very intelligent reasons why some people are opposing the lawsuit and settlement.
Several different articles lately have tried to get to the bottom of why literary fame is so unpredictable. The New Yorker sums it up.
Author Barry Eisler has been a bit of a lightning rod lately with his decision to go to Amazon to publish his next book and his outspoken opinions on traditional publishing. Editor Alan Rinzler has a comprehensive post on what writers can learn from him.
Remember how Google scanned all the books in the world and there has been a lawsuit against them that has been pe
24 Comments on The Last Few Weeks in Books 6/8/12, last added: 6/11/2012
The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books as well, so I'm a bit skeptical. But the trailer looks interesting, and it's difficult to go wrong with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. :D
Enjoy your blog, Nathan. As a small press owner, I regularly experience the "lightning rod" feeling that Barry E. is feeling right now. Especially when I speak out about such beauts as the stunning mediocrity of much "Christian Fiction," and such. Wow. You've not seen a firestorm until you've wrangled with the religious. Dave Barry said something along those lines, but he mentioned machetes. :) Keep up the good work!
I used to tell my daughter (a few years ago, when she was just getting started as a writer) that fanfiction was fun for practice, but she should write original stories and characters if she ever wanted to be a professional writer.
And then of course Fifty Shades of Grey came along, and proved I had no idea what I was talking about.
I know a lot of people say it's terrible, and I haven't read it, but I have to echo something Nathan often says: she must have been doing something right.
It just proves there really is NO accounting for taste. It's demographics - which portion of the reading public is doing the most buying of the '50 Shades of..."? Women, men, certain age groups??
Fan fiction builds off the original creator's idea. Has any fan fiction been as good as the original?
I really like Carey Mulligan, so I'm interested in seeing how she plays Daisy. I'm also interested in seeing how her performance compares to Mia Farrow's performance as Daisy in the 70s.
Anonymous said, on 6/8/2012 10:23:00 AM
Houghton Mifflin...didn't they reject Julia Child :)
As for the Gatsby film...I'm just having a hard time with LD as the lead. He's short and stocky with legs shaped like the letter X. I always imaged Jay as one of those tall, handsome, well-bred patrician types with strong bone structure. Let's just say LD is no Robert Redford. But he was a great J. Edgar Hoover.
My Side of the Mountain was probably one of my three favorite books as a child. If I didn't hate being cold, I would have dreamed even more of following in that boy's footsteps. Now I might have to go dig it out of a box and give it another go.
I don't think I'll read 50 Shades. It's not my cuppa. On the other hand, I said the same thing about a YA vampire series, so what do I know?
As for Gatsby, I admitted this to Sommer Leigh and have been waiting for black cloud over my head to start pouring: I don't get The Great Gatsby. I read it and wanted to like it, I really did. But I just didn't connect with any of the characters. I feel like I missed something.
Thanks for these awesome links, Nathan. Julie OF The Wolves sounds like a wonderful title. Sorry to hear you lost such a talented friend. So many incredible outcomes in these links: Houghton Mifflin over a bill. in debt?!? How can they ever work their way out of this? The passing of Ray Bradbury is very sad. He was a rare author in whose work I always found profound beauty and amazing imagination. Something Wicked This Way Comes was a favourite.
Haven't yet had an op. to check out all the links but will make time when I can. All a must read, I think.
Watched the Great Gatsby trailer. I thought it was intriguing and obviously the movie is going to be epic. I've not read the book, but the premise as shown in the trailer shows a lot of promise. Here in Australia 'Gatsby' is not on many reading lists. When I was studying writing at Uni level, the syllabus consisted of all Australian titles back then - which I loved and could identify with more than titles from other countries and cultures. If a book is in a genre that I love, such as fantasy, then I've no problem with its origins. Fantasy titles usually have their own culture and countries, anyway, which I enjoy.
My Side of the Mountain and October Country. So much lost. I read Gatsby once but when I think about it all I get is an empty mansion with filmy curtains blowin' in the wind. Or was that someone else? They had great cars though.
I won't lie, I groaned out loud when I read how much copies Fifty Shades of Gray sold/
I'm surprised I hadn't heard about the passing of Jean Craighead George, since this week was the death of the great author Ray Bradbury. I guess I'm also slightly surprised you didn't mention that as well, but I suppose Bradbury has been so well known that we all found out this week one way or another.
On a lighter note, I am really excited for the Great Gatsby movie.
50 Shades, huh? Well, there's no accounting for taste, I guess. And the trailer looks pretty good. Baz can either make a film spectacularly successful or a fantastic failure. No in between. let's hope for the former.
Thanks for all of the great links Nathan. It's sad news about Ray Bradbury and Jean Craighead George. I almost fell out of my chair reading about 50 Shades. The Great Gatsby should be amazing. I can't wait to see it.
Jessica said, on 6/10/2012 7:31:00 AM
My reaction to the 50 Shades news is how a food connoisseur living off foie gras and caviar would react to the news that 10 million people went nuts over McDonalds.
"Um. Sure, McDonalds can be good... but it's not super great in large doses, and plus, have you TRIED other food?"
Wonderful links, Nathan. Very fun and interesting to browse them. Thank you so much!
Very sad about George and Bradbury. They will be missed!
I especially liked the links on Eisler and the independent bookstores - and the book generator - thank you!
And I have serious concerns that Leo was miscast as Gatsby. But maybe it's another interpretation....?
So, I'm reluctantly going to add that since you and I have been debating this, I have to say, regretfully, I don't think Shatzkin added any good reasons for opposing the lawsuit (the settlement is a different topic.)
He basically said the main thing others are saying which is: "Yes, they probably broke the law (wink, wink), but they had a good reason for doing it, so you should let them off.
I just don't think that saying publishers had a "good reason" excuses illegal, criminal activity. Most people acting criminally think they had a good reason for doing so. Not usually a good defense.
All of this stuff about the agency model is besides the point. The DOJ is not suing for the agency model, they are suing over collusion. And for corporations, who are supposed to be competing, to collude and make agreements that try to control the market is an illegal, criminal activity. Publishers are not, nor should they be, above the law. For any reason.
That's the way I see it anyway. And it seems to me that all the arguments against the suit dodge that point and talk about the agency model, which is frankly, irrelevant to the real reason for the suit.
I've been very hard at work finishing up the edits for Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp, though some of that hard work happened in quite an idyllic spot.
Thank you Moss Beach Distillery!
Posts should hopefully get a bit more frequent now that I have more time, but due to writing fatigue I'm reverting to digest form to give you some of the top links from the past few weeks.
I think the big deal is when all the best selling authors walk away from their publishers and do this.
What will publishers think if James Patterson does this next? Stephen King has already played in this pool. Will he go back and try again?
If the big publishers bread and butter authors walk out the door because they have name recognition, what will the big publishers do? Will they start appreciating their mid-list authors? Oh, wait, they have moved onto self-publishing.
The dominoes can topple pretty fast.
And finally, this is totally mesmerizing. The ocean currents illustrated, Van Gogh style (via io9)
Hello from a plane leaving Las Vegas, where I had a fantastic time at the kickoff of the Bransforumfest 2012 writing retreat! Some of the great people who met in the Forums are in Vegas talking writing, drinking caffeinated beverages, occupying Starbucks, sampling some of Vegas' fine cuisine, and generally being rather awesome. I already can't wait until next year!
Meanwhile, yes, this be big book news: Apple is hosting an iPad event on Wednesday in San Francisco (disclosure: link is to CNET I work at CNET). Will the number of people with tablets continue to grow? And will they read on them or play Angry Birds?
Adding to the growing canon of "Do Authors Still Ned Publishers" posts, Alex Rider author Anthony Horowitz wrote a wide-ranging article for the Guardian. His conclusion: Yes, they do. Well, sort of.
So you want to work in the publishing publishing? Jessica Faust at BookEnds has suggestions for someone thinking of packing up and moving to NYC to pursue the publishing dream.
Are they plagued by a public perception problem? Amongst writers, certainly. But the average non-writer (whether they read or not) has no idea who or what the "Big Six" even is, let alone how the publishing industry actually works.
The entire debate reminds me of my days at university (about a billion years ago) where I spent a lot of time with IT geeks. Oh, the heated debates about the evils of Microsoft vs the integrity of Apple and the stability and geek-chic coolness of Linux as an operating system. Start an IT geek talking about reverse engineered operating systems and you'd be treated to a verit
15 Comments on Last Week in Books 3/5/12, last added: 3/7/2012
Great links! The link about Middle Grade is especially enlightening - I am among those who find it a tough genre to get exactly right. I enjoyed the discussion of MG as being for readers who want to both understand and escape.
And how could you dangle that Bransforumfest swag in front of us like that? HOW COULD YOU? It's not MY fault that Las Vegas is completely outside my budget right now...
Andrew said, on 3/5/2012 5:23:00 PM
As a reader of fiction I truly hope that traditional publishers stick around. The thought of having to wade through mountains of self-published rubbish to find a decent book makes me shudder.
I'm sure over time there will be more and more authors that instead of reworking or abandoning their manuscript upon rejection will just publish a Nook and/or Kindle ebook themselves. The way I see it these people, in aggregate, will only serve to reinforce the value traditional publisher brands have with the reading public.
Thanks for these interesting and valuable links, Nathan.
I think both options of self-publishing and mainstream publishing will remain for the long haul. Both have become necessary, I think, for readers and writers.
"But fast-forward to today and Microsoft is still around. Why? Because all the general public wants is an inexpensive, user-friendly computer system that allows them to check Facebook and watch videos of cats."
Ne'er were truer and pithier words written. If I couldn't get my Twitter and Maru fixations satisfied. . .Bless you, Bill.
I am very envious of the Bransforumers, and I think it's really awesome that you went, Nathan. There's a thread in the forums where people are posting updates, and it's really fun to read about the trip.
I thought Jo's comment was very clever and on point. I do think it's important to note some key words here:
"AS LONG AS traditional publishers provide a quality product at a reasonable price, through expected distribution systems... "
If that changes, ie. prices increase, e-books aren't available, publishers may lose their current invisibility.
I thought Anthony Horowitz' article was very funny at times, and overall quite sweet (although I didn't exactly agree with his conclusion.), and I loved Natalie's article. She's always vulnerable and smart, and I love to read her posts. And that is very cool news about the Book Thief!
Damn I wish that Bransforum retreat was in Australia; that swag looks awesome!
I really enjoyed what Anthony Horowitz had to say and think his view on what an ebook could be is interesting. I still think paper books will be around for a while, and that publishing will revolutionize itself, but with Horowitz's ebook example even I'd be tempted to make the change.
The dinosaur analogy works quite well for the big publishers. The earth's ecosystem was extremely stable for millions of years so large hulking beasts got very specialized to the environment. They became very good at their jobs and ruled the planet. A slight change in the environment wiped them out. But, in the case of big six publishers, a few will still be around in a very specific role. That is to handle the jobs that are too big for small presses. We need these massive hulking beasts to handle massive hulking beasts. The big six have a physical infrastructure that I can't match. They can put more books on more shelves in a few weeks than I can in a year. So if Jennifer Aniston wanted me to publish her explicit sex memoir in hard back, I couldn't come close to meeting the demand. By the time I arranged enough printed books to supply the customers, pop culture would have moved its attention on to the next shiny object. So yes, the big six do have a role in the future. It will require them to streamline and adapt to their new role and they may not all survive. Years from now there may only be a big 3 or 4 but they will be there. While these giant monsters deal with giant monsters, it will be up to the indies to find the flowers and jewels being trampled under their reptilian feet.
Oh.. by the way, as far as the big six being the guardians of quality, they need to print out a list of indie published books that have won awards, became loved and affected people. Once they print that comprehensive list of these titles, they can roll it up into a tube and suck it.
As long as they buy my book for their iPad, they can play Angry Birds all they want.
Anonymous said, on 3/6/2012 12:47:00 PM
Grammar Grouch here. The correct wording is "she wished she had done differently," not "she wished she would have done differently." Even if it were grammatically, correct, it doesn't make sense to use "would have" in place of the shorter "had."
Doug
Anonymous said, on 3/7/2012 12:01:00 AM
Bransforumfest sounds like great fun!
The Microsoft analogy doesn't really work. Microsoft invented tech products. The traditional publishing companies don't own a revolutionary invention. They don't own a patent on books. On the other hand, they're so far behind in the technology they should be utilizing in order to keep up with the rest of the world, it's kind of sad. It would be like owning a board game company, refusing to lower the prices while constantly yelling, "Darn those upstart whippersnapper young'uns and their 99-cent phone app games. How can anyone ever find the good ones with all the bad ones out there? I tell you, apps are gonna disappear one day and the board game companies will survive...just like Microsoft."
I urge you not to read those articles all three in a row unless you want to get the sense that the traditional publishing industry is, um, a little nervous about how relevant it is in the future and mildly uncertain about what it should be doing.
I've been out of the publishing game a while, but it's worth taking a deep breath and remembering some things: a) This is still a print world (yes, still), and publishers are still best at getting paper to customers (yes, still). b) Some authors will still benefit from the collection of services publishers offer into the new era.
But also: Publishers must think about how their brands matter in the new era, especially to consumers, and how they can make themselves indispensable to an author's sales figures and bottom line. Right now they ain't getting it done by relying on authors for their own promotion and offering very little added value except for a few titles a season (who are often the titles that need the least boost).
But the sky isn't falling yet.
Whew! Meanwhile, Kassia Krozser at Booksquare previews the Tools of Change conference and tackles the perennial topic of print/e-book bundling.
So there is a scientific basis for the plot of the movie "Killer Octopi: Tentacles Of Death"...??? I take back what I said about it. By the way your video selections don't show up when I get your post via email. Thanks!
Anonymous said, on 12/9/2011 4:59:00 PM
Here is a species of octopus that lives in trees.
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
Anonymous said, on 12/9/2011 5:38:00 PM
I'm surprised Franzen wasn't on the bad sex list. I've read parodies of his sex scenes that were hysterical.
Anonymous said, on 12/9/2011 6:24:00 PM
Hey, Nathan, it's your old buddy, Mike, speaking. I think it's high time that somebody said this to YOU:
Have a great weekend!
I love seeing that sentence on the Friday blog. All healthy people should at least try to have a great weekend.
a. I'm very happy that the Justice Dept. and EU are investigating the collusion between publishers and Apple. I think that agency model IS price fixing, and thank goodness for government regulation of corporations, because corporations can't be trusted. Yay, e-book oversight! Very interesting to see this play out.
b. In terms of Rachelle Gardner's multiple genre thing, I'm sorry I don't agree. I know her intenstion is to be a good guide, but her main point is that someone can't market and social network for multiple books in different genres. Okay. But I think it's still important to remember that authors are best designed to WRITE books, not SELL them. There has to be a better solution than stopping an author from writing in order to have them focus on a marketing strategy that has not been proven to actually work anyway.
b. Cute article by Sharon Vakin. Love the picture. Someday, though, we'll wax nostalgic about e-readers and how they felt to hold in our hands, now that books are microwaved directly into our brains.
c. I wasn't sure if David G. got the Bad Sex award for the topic or for the writing. But since I have no intention of reading an extended sex scene between a son and mother, I guess I'll never know.
d. Didn't really understand how the Readmill site was different. But I like the creativity of new ways to form internet book clubs! Yay!
e. I think the Grossman article has a good point. Effort, stamina, refusal to quit huge ingredients to success.
f. John Green's article was interesting. I liked what he said about creating a project to involve people. I don't agree, though, that the problem in the future will be to be noticed. Not if you have a good product. Don't underestimate consumers, I think.
g. Why is Towers not doing interviews? The article didn't say.
h. Eeek! This poor writer found a pen name because her real name "Alison" is too middle-aged. OMG. I don't know where to start. Sheesh. Is there any actual research, btw, that the name of the author influences sales? Or is that just something someone made up because it sounded like the type of ageism and sexism that should be perpetrated by major corporations, and therefore, a good thing to do?
I. Those Amazon reviews were the funniest thing, ever. I laughed and laughed. Thank you for posting them!
J. Awesome video. I really think the Octopus wanted to eat the people. You could tell it was disappointed when it turned back.
Okay, that's it. Thanks for letting me share all my OPINIONS on these interesting links, Nathan!
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Very nice and useful information shared, this blog is very good to acknowledge yourself and to remain updated, especially your writing style is very attractive, keep it up.
Whew. I'm back in San Francsico again after being gone three out of the last four weeks, and there's nothing quite like being back at home. But as I'm in pseudo-NaNoWriMo mode on Wonderbar #3, time for blogging is limited.
So! Here are my favorite links from the last few weeks, in link-only form.
Awesome list. Thanks, as always, for throwing it together.
(I'm guessing your bookcover of the future link was meant to point here: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/nanowrimo-tips-futuristic-covers-top-publishing-stories-of-the-week_b42086)
This list made me wonder how you manage to find time to READ all of these links, much less share them with us.
Thanks!
And welcome back to the City. I thought the sunrise over the bridge today was extra special. The foggish sunshine must have been happy to see you too.
So, I'm thinking of coming back and commenting on every single one of these links, because I'm in THAT KIND OF MOOD, but we'll see if I have any energy left after actually reading them all.
Thanks for so many great links. I noticed that one of your links is to the National Book Award winners. I discovered today that 3 of 4 winners of the National Book Awards this year were published by independent presses. Exciting times for writers!
Always love your "This Week in Books," Nathan -thank you.
I was very surprised and delighted by the comprehensive Kindle Fire review. I've been flirting with purchasing one and this helps a bunch - especially since I just recently purchased the regular ole Kindle less than a year ago. Dang. But, I'm still tempted.
No, only half way through. You out-linked me, Nathan!
I do want to say that the futuristic cover is AWESOME. Wow, that's pretty cool.
Anonymous said, on 11/21/2011 12:06:00 PM
That's very informative video of the Planet Earth. The sound effect is creepy. It feels like "roasting of the planet." Very frightening indeed. That's what it is LIGHT is a drug you take too much of it you compromise your health. Thanks for posting a very educational enlightening video. Truly amazing!
Now that I'm the social media manager at CNET rather than a literary agent (Note for emphasis: Not a literary agent. No more queries, pleaaasssseeee!!!), I'm at the whims of the tech news cycle and it doesn't get much bigger than this week. I've had my nose to a screen pretty much nonstop.
The life of Steve Jobs has been endlessly parsed and discussed and debated since his passing (here's a massively comprehensive roundup from CNET), and it's amazing how deep his influence runs. To just take one little corner of the world, the publishing industry, he had a massive impact. For someone who famously said that no one reads anymore, he sure shook up the book world.
The iPad ushered in a completely new way of reading that will transform books forever. Sure, e-ink readers are still popular, but tablets will soon be ubiquitous and we'll increasingly do our reading not on paper but on screens.
And even beyond the reading experience, the app store model is now how the Big 6 publishers sell their e-books, resulting in curiosities like e-books sometimes costing more than hardcovers. His influence is everywhere.
We lost a great innovator way too soon. He'll definitely be missed.
Meanwhile, I managed to snag some links from the past few weeks in between all the frantic tweeting and Facebook posting I've been doing for work, and here they be. Oh, and for all the latest tech news (and to see what I do for my day job, follow CNET on Facebook and Twitter!)
Dare I say blog fatigue is setting in among the bloggerati? Author Natalie Whipple admitted that she's tired of blogging (Internet negativity being a big factor), and none other than J.A. Konrath is taking an indefinite hiatus, saying he's tired of screaming. I'll post more about this on Monday - speaking personally I haven't lost the blogging love, but logistically it's definitely hard to keep up.
The agent's blog isn't quite right in that she confused Locke selling one million eBooks at .99 with earning one million dollars. Two different beasts.
Eisler didn't walk away to self-publish, he went with another publisher called Thomas and Mercer for the same deal.
I think a big problem are the rumors and misconceptions floating around that people believe. I keep seeing the same names touted as the top "indie" authors, yet when you examined where they are now, they're signed with agents or publishers. Nothing wrong with that, but writers need to understand why they aren't walking down the apparently green path of self-publishing.
Rachelle said, on 10/8/2011 2:02:00 PM
Speaking of great writing advice, this powerful piece of advice was posted last week by YA author Aimee Carter. http://aimeecarter.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/on-negativity/
Creating a good book is a labor-intensive bitch of a job.
I would love to have someone handling all the work for me. The paradox is that if a self pub is selling enough books to get attention from a big traditional publisher, the writer has already done most of the work. At that point they have to decide if the increased sales volume from a big publisher can offset the bottom line bite that publisher will take.
A famous reality TV star with no record of ever having said anything slightly intelligent will be approached by or will approach a big publisher and together they will produce a well formatted, well edited piece of crap with beautiful cover art.
I think there is a bit of blogging backlash now. The new shininess is gone, and people are starting to actually think about it and evaluate the pros and cons. Which is a good thing, I think.
Bob raises an interesting point about the "top indie authors" actually not being completely indie. To me, that says that there is a lot of room for new publishing models halfway between traditional and indie.
(And thanks for the shout out!)
Anonymous said, on 10/8/2011 4:49:00 PM
"The agent's blog isn't quite right in that she confused Locke selling one million eBooks at .99 with earning one million dollars. Two different beasts."
Unfortunately, those who have come late to the party don't know...or don't understand...what the pioneers have been doing for a long time. And they talk about what they've just learned at the proverbial watercooler instead of what's been happening. I've seen more than one blog post by literary agents that are way off the mark. It's almost as if they are trying to reinvent the concept of Indie publishing/self-publishing. One blogging agent even confuses established e-publishers with self-publishing and that's not a difficult concept to grasp. But it is an insult to successful e-publishers who've been around for a long time. I do know that with almost every blog post you read nowadays...excluding this blog...you have to take into consideration that not all the information is going to be accurate.
On another note, thanks to pioneers like Steve Jobs and a lot of other people who saw digital books as the next step in publishing, it's been amazing so far.
Hah! This is funny, because I've always wanted to win comment of the week, but when a friend emailed me, I thought for sure it would be for the comment on "Do You Read Books Straight Through" post.
Not that I'm complaining, that was quite a brilliant comment as well.
Anyway, the work you put into this little venture for all of us really is appreciated, Nathan. I haven't been blogging half as long as you, and the amount of work that goes into it is so much more than I ever would have guessed. I have a lot of friends with very popular blogs who are getting burned out too, but not me. Not yet.
Wonderful tribute to Steve Jobs, Nathan! He will truly be missed.
I'm honored and delighted to find my name on your blog, as one of the writers interviewed by Sarah LaPolla! Finding my name on your blog has added icing to the cake of my wonderful week being interviewed by Sarah. You and Sarah LaPolla are two of my very favorite blogging agents.
I’m looking forward to checking out the many links you provided in This Week in Books 10/8/11. Have a wonderful weekend!
You blog tops the list in my Google Reader for consistency...It's most consistent in terms of posting, quality, entertainment, and information. I hope you don't burn out!
Self-publishing will continue to evolve, as will traditional publishing. At the end of the day, though, it will be the quality of the published book that will be talked about, more than the path to publication. Good books will come from both sources, as will books of lesser quality.
There will be growth in options and opportunities for the industry as a whole.
WORD VERIFICATION: sneses. What happens after your nose starts itching from hayfever.
Ooooops. I just realized I wrote "You and Sarah LaPolla are two of my very favorite blogging agents." I should have said, "You and Sarah LaPolla are two of my very favorite people blogging about the publishing industry." I do realize you're no longer an agent, and I find your posts about the tech side of publishing very valuable as well. :)
Anonymous said, on 10/9/2011 12:59:00 PM
I think the "real" bloggers will remain. I think those who were only trying it out or doing it to promote something will fizzle out. I've seen more blogs come and go than I can count. I've seen more people in the pubilshing industry come and go than I can count. But the good ones always remain.
Wow, Nathan. I've been trying to get through all the links, but I've only made it through a couple so far. But, they are good links, so I've got reading to do this week!
It was fun to see Mathew and Marilyn spotlighted! Fun to think there's a community of people here that I know and am rooting for.
In terms of your blogging, I absolutely love your blog, it's fun and informative and thought provoking, and you are an extremely generous host! But I want you to take care of yourself too!! So, whatever works for you to find balance is the best, imho.
I'm definitely suffering blogging fatigue, what with revamping my WIP entirely and having college to deal with as well...I feel like I'd be letting my few readers down if I quit, though.
I'm off to peruse that link to the blogging thread in the forums, but before I do I will say that while it takes away time I could be writing and offers an easy procrastination route, it still feels good to connect with other writers via a blog. Maybe it's just that feeling of validation, of actually mattering somewhat, that us novice writers need, but I'd say it's still something worth looking at despite my mediocre success with it.
Hehe, I love that logo! And thanks for the shout out for Sarah's blog series on self-publishing and small press publishing. It was truly an honor to interview with her. :)
Congrats on making the leap to social media manager! I've done the same - love it. I was pretty shocked on JA Konrath's announcement as well, but it looks like he's not going to be short of content.
The Next Web interviewed me on my recent self publishing feat: http://thenextweb.com/media/2011/09/29/as-kindle-explodes-we-interview-a-new-author-on-the-merits-of-self-publishing/
Another relatively quiet week in books this week, so just a few quality links for you. Also, on Monday and Tuesday I shall be away from the blog and will be posting blog posts of yore, which will possibly incorporate my new kick of including art from yore.
First up, the big news in the social media world is that Google launched Google+, its direct challenge to Facebook (disclosure: link is to CNET, I work at CNET). My first impression: Awesome! I'm a big fan, and you can find me on Google+ here. I also participated in CNET's hands-on look at Google+ using Google+. Add me to your Circles!
Though I'm also still kind of trying to figure out how to calibrate my Google+ presence. The people following me thus far are mostly techies, so I will probably be sharing mainly social media and tech-of-book posts until I can better target my posts. But so far I'm extremely impressed with the interface and am enjoying re-building my social network from scratch.
Speaking of social media news, the Wall Street Journal has a great article on the social media prowess of author John Green, whose unpublished novel is already #1 on Amazon & B&N. (via SideKick)
Major congratulations are in order to my former client Natalie Whipple, who just announced her new book deal with HarperCollins for her debut novel TRANSPARENT!! If you've been following Natalie's blog you know that this has been a long time coming, and having worked with Natalie for several years I can tell you the book deal couldn't have happened to a more deserving writer! So excited for her.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning----
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
into this...
Everybody has a dream. And, like Gatsby, we must all follow our dream wherever it takes us.
Some unpleasant people became part of Gatsby's dream. But he cannot be blamed for that. Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he?
Thank you for all the links. I went and checked out Natalie Whipple's blog and fell in love with her upbeat attitude. I might have to try the google+ thing. I love the idea of having different circles. I never did like the idea of boring my writing friends with stupid updates on my personal life.
Nathan, thanks for the links. They look interesting, I'll read through them later.
But I have an extremely important question for you - was your Birthday last weekend??
I think it was. I think it was your birthday last weekend, and so to you I give the bestest of bestest, and lots and lots of wishes for an absolutely lovely, peaceful, productive and happy year! For both you and Jacob. :)
My favorite link was the Jennifer Hubbard one. I can't explain how much fun it is to craft that first sentence. I know, I know. Too much stock can be put into it and one shouldn't obsess about it.
But there is an art to it that I can't help but have fun with them. I also enjoy seeing other author's first lines because sometimes they do something really unique or entertaining such as the one from Willow that Jennifer listed. I love how it pique's interest and immediately starts with mystery.
I'm in the Ebert camp too. Leave the classics alone, or teach them properly. The solution of dumbing-down is a lazy one, a good teacher can make anything interesting.
Must we try to spoon-feed literature to our kids, must we always assume that the Lowest Common Denominator rules? (if as Ebert says at the bottom of the post, this is for ESL students, then they are getting shortchanged on the real thing)
Will check out the new Google social media, but security is the feature I want to know most about, considering all the hack attacks that have happened lately.
Thanks for the links, Nathan, I still have to check a few more. Have a great weekend!
That's an absolute hatchet job on old F. Scott there. I'm offended on his behalf.
Kind of reminds of what they did to Little Women, when they made a movie of the real novel, then made a new novel based on the movie. WTF?
This whole phenomenon saddens me because I worry whether as a society we are threatening beautiful literary works in our incessant need for light, fun stories full of plot and action. There are some great new books still coming out, but it feels like it's slowing.
Thanks for the heads up, Nathan. Just signed up to be invited to Google+. Hope they let me in. It's like the Salvatore Brothers Founder's Ball all over again. Keeping my fingers crossed...
Everyone will jump on me, but I "get" the new Gatsby version. Ebert doesn't get it and never will: he's too old.
Times change; writing changes; communication between people changes and evolves. And what worked many years ago doesn't work the same way today. Younger people have grown up with visuals, unlike previous generations that grew up with radio and books. Where people used to need to be "shown," now they require being "told" so they can visualize themselves. They've been trained to visualize and don't need any help doing it.
This gets complicated, but it's not really that hard to "get." It's all about communications, semiotics, semantics, and how cultures evolve over time.
And I'd bet anything that if Gatsby were submitted to an editor today, it would be rejected.
Styles definitely change, but I think the point is that it's better for kids to read new books at their ability level than for publishers to ruin classics.
I'm with you on the Gatsby re-write; just can't go along with dumbing down his prose in the name of better communication with a less literate audience.
I've been hearing about the google plus bit, and it sounds pretty enticing. I love the fact that my work friends won't have to be sending me all the grandkid photos and that kind of thing.
But about the Great Gatsby -- I understand that there is sometimes a need to dumb-down a work of literature for low-level kids so they can have some taste of the greatness they might not otherwise have at all. I've even simplified some Shakespeare myself to use with my lowest 7th graders. But that Gatsby example has to be one of the worst things I've ever seen. Ugh. Other than using the name Gatsby, it appears to bear no resemblance to the original. Yuck. (And I'm not even a big Gatsby fan.)
Ick. If you paraphrase the gorgeous prose of Gatsby then it's just some story about a social climber who liked someone else's wife. No thank you.
Meanwhile, I thought the marvel comic of Sense and Sensibility was pretty good.
Anonymous said, on 7/8/2011 12:32:00 PM
Well, thanks, Nathan. That Gatsby rewrite just put me off my lunch.
Anonymous said, on 7/8/2011 1:03:00 PM
"Styles definitely change, but I think the point is that it's better for kids to read new books at their ability level than for publishers to ruin classics."
I totally agree. And I want to be careful here when I say this. But "things" have become so *relaxed*. I honestly don't know what it's like in SF, but if you live in the east, near any large city between DC and NY, kids don't even know how to speak anymore. I think publishers are just giving them what they want (or need). Should they be touching classics? Probably not. But it's become so painfully low end no one seems to mind anymore...or notice.
Neil Larkins said, on 7/8/2011 1:12:00 PM
Sounds like a high school kid's review of the book. Pathetic, if high school kids prefer it. No, you don't touch the classics. What, are we now to go into the Louvre and tweek the slightly-off perspectives of the masters? Maybe give them a little CG? Or give Beethoven a more up-to-date sound? Oh, wait. That's been done. Oh, my sumintl! We're scroomed! Great post today.
Oh, the Gatsby thing makes me hurt a little, mostly because Fitzgerald's writing is so achingly gorgeous, especially the conclusion. I like that there are junior versions of novels available; reading the junior versions of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS when I was very young prepared me to tackle books like ROBINSON CRUSOE in third grade. (It took me a month to read, but at least I got it!) This adaptation, though...it bears no resemblance to the original, either in tone or, it seems, plot, and inspires me to use inappropriate ellipses.
I'd already read Rachel's post, but thank you for the others. It was a pleasure to meet a fellow first line blogger and I'm now looking forward to transparent. Happy Weekend.
Oh, hell. I just got started on Facebook, and now there's another social networking site we all gotta get on in order to promote our books. Will this madness never end? How many more social networking sites will be set up? The more sites, the more unadulterated pap there will be, and how much time are your going to spend filtering through it? If the same people are on all these different sites, they'll just say the same thing on each. I think I'll pick one and stick with it. I have no doubt that eventually there will be people who do nothing all day but sit in front of a computer and network. Networking for the sake of networking. I wonder, can there be too much networking? Is there already?
Anonymous said, on 7/8/2011 2:45:00 PM
Styles do change, as do the times. Gatsby, like all great novels, gives us a glimpse into another time, when we could stand on docks and stare at white mansions, attend lavish parties, sip gin in the afternoon, drive into town in open yellow cars and admire starlets drooping beneath fragrant trees. It’s a window into a world that has vanished, the time when the Great War had ended and there would never be another. At the same time, what living, breathing human creature has never dreamed of recapturing perfect love with the one we somehow missed? Literature is dated yet universal, reminding us that we are people, and that people, whether they dwelled in mud huts or mansions, lived, loved, thought, made mistakes – just like we do.
Anonymous said, on 7/8/2011 4:46:00 PM
Anon @ 2:45
Yes. What you said. I agree.
But I just heard they are offering little Ms. Anthony a million bucks for a TV appearance.
There's a book on the bestseller list with F&^K in the title. People. Are. Buing. It.
Nothing surprises me anymore. Society is changing. The standards are lower.
Thanks for linking! And it was fun to pour the virtual champagne for Natalie.
Also thanks for the Google+ video.
The Gatsby example is not just a simplification of Fitzgerald's words; it has a very different meaning. And this example brought to mind a Bret Easton Ellis interview I read recently, where Ellis said this:
" ... it is the language of the book that carries the book. Stories never matter. Every story has been told a thousand times. It doesn’t matter. This is what I always tell young fiction writers: Write whatever you want to write about, but write about it really well. Style is everything."
I'm not sure I agree with him 100% that "story doesn't matter," but I thought it was an interesting idea, on point here.
(interview excerpt from Three Guys One Book at http://threeguysonebook.com/the-bret-easton-ellis-interview-part-1)
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Would have posted earlier but I had to clean the coffee off my keyboard after The Great Gatsby thing.
Thanks for the weekly recap. I end up finding a lot of other blogs to follow (added Natalie Whipple-Congrats! [not on the book signing but for gaining a follower]) from it.
Sad.....just like Gatsby being fed into a word processor by one of the mythical millions of monkeys. Shakespeare didn't come out and Gatsby sure as hell didn't either.
So I took down my previous message, since you maybe didn't want it acknowledged, but the good wishes are still there!
Great links, too - I especially want to wish Natalie congratulations! She's a lovely person and very much deserving of a glorious debut! :)
Good article by Jennifer about first lines; I'm not on Facebook, so probably won't be on Google +; re. John Green, I followed a post in the forums to you-tube, and I've recently been discovering what a powerhouse of social networking You-Tube is, especially for the teen and post-teen set, which is fascinating; Re. the Great Gatsby debacle,I admit to being a bit intrigued. There are some possiblities here. For example, I've always wanted Shakespeare re-written so that I could blooming understand it. Who can understand Shakespeare??!! It's completely incomprehensible. On the other hand, the Great Gatsby is comprehensible, so cut it out with the dumbing down re-write stuff. That's just silly. But re-writing Shakespeare - now that's just common sense.
"Who can understand Shakespeare??!! It's completely incomprehensible."
Uh, I understand Shakespeare. It's not incomprehensible in the slightest, just poorly taught. Shakespeare should never, NEVER be taught by English teachers, because it is not literature. It is DRAMA. Treating the written script as if it were a complete work of art in and of itself, rather than a blueprint for the creation of a work of art, is a complete misunderstanding of the nature of drama. Shakespeare was never meant to be read, but to be seen. English teachers never get this, and thus end up teaching students that Shakespeare is an incomprehensible mess.
Case in point: Remember that line in Act III, Scene II of Hamlet (the play within a play) where Hamlet asks Ophelia "Do you think I meant country matters?" English teachers invariably explain that line as being a dirty joke, which it is, but their students can't possibly "get" the humor from that.
When I was in college, however, I was involved in a production of Hamlet. When Act III, Scene II rolled around, our Hamlet leered up at Ophelia and sneered: "Do you think I meant CUNT-try matters?" It got a huge laugh every time, because everybody finally understood the joke.
Shakespeare on stage is easy to understand, because you have the context clues necessary to follow it. THAT is how Shakespeare should be taught: as a crafter of visual and auditory art. Would "The Godfather" or "Citizen Kane" have the same impact if you read the screenplay rather than watching the film? Neither does Shakespeare.
Quiet week on the link front, but there is still some bloggy and articley goodness for your perusal.
First up, big news on the e-reader front as Amazon is launching a $114 ad-supported version of the Kindle. Meaning, there are "special offers" as screensavers. Would you buy the $139 ad-free version or the $114 ad-supported version? (disclosure: article link is to CNET, I work at CNET)
Major congratulations are in order to my former client Lisa Brackmann (who you may know around these parts as Other Lisa), as her debut novel ROCK PAPER TIGER was nominated for Best New Novel in The Strand Critics Awards. (Congrats to the other non-former-client nominees as well). Also, Lisa is in China right now, and be sure and check out her incredible posts about her trip.
Self-publishing sure seems to be on everyone's mind these days -- Anne R. Allen has a post on three things to ask yourself before you jump on the self-publishing bandwagon.
Slate has a terrific profile of one of the greatest journalists working today, David Grann, and some of the techniques he uses to make his stories so uniquely compelling.
Eric from Pimp My Novel wonders if there will soon be such a thing as "bibliophiles" - just as there are audiophiles with their vinyl collections, he wonders if there will be bibliophiles collecting the physical objects and whether that will be a niche crowd.
Comment! of! the! Week! There were lots of great comments about what people are building, but I have to go with Ulysses for comment of the week:
I love building!
1) Family. 2) Memories. 3) A career. 4) Some stories. 5) My own knowledge. 6) Happiness. 7) A castle out of lego with my daughter. 8) Faith. 9) The world's best steak sandwich. 10) Contradictions. 11) A life. 12) Neural pathways. 13) Muscle mass. 14) A genetic heritage. 15) Relationships. 16) And, of course, a Super-Destructo ray, because sometimes building stuff gets dull.
And finally, because every week needs more flying corndogs in space.... (and thanks again to Brent Peterson):
First, big congratulations are in order to Bryce Daniels, who correctly picked UConn to win it all in the Bracket Challenge and came away the winner! Nicely done!
Next year will be my year. NO REALLY this time.
Also, thank you so much to everyone who weighed in this week on Virtual Witch Hunts. There were some other friends of the blog who weighed in on the subject of dealing with reviews, Internet mobs, and how we should conduct ourselves online, so be sure and check out the posts by Sommer Leigh, Matthew MacNish, and Livia Blackburne.
I'm a little late to this post, but writing for Salon, Laura Miller takes a look at the symmetry of Barry Eisler leaving St. Martin's and Amanda Hocking signing with St. Martin's and notes that the one thing they have in common is that they're great at promoting their own work. So, what about the authors who aren't?
ABC News is the latest news outlet to notice this whole self-publishing thing, and it leads with a quote from Zoe Winters, who you may know from this blog and others.
Is it fair for readers to leave one star reviews when they haven't read the book in order to protest high e-book prices? My colleague (and author) David Carnoy wrote an article about that happening to Michael Connelly. His article is very interesting, as is the wide spectrum of opinion in the comments section.
Meanwhile, an independent publisher in the UK discloses the steep terms they have with Amazon and how they actually lose money on every sale. Though his math doesn't actually add up, and it begs the question: If you're losing money on every copy selling through Amazon why sell through Amazon? Not sure I understand the business model.
Agent Jenny Bent, for one, is very happy that we're now seeing what readers really want, and celebrates that self-published books are bypassing the gatekeepers. Why does she feel that way an agent? She sees herself as a conduit, not a gatekeeper, and herself sees the difference between "reader taste" and "publisher taste."
I don't think the Kindle sales lists show what readers in general as much as they demonstrate Amazon's success at courting a certain value-conscious market.
Amazon has been heavily invested in marketing Kindles as a way to save money on books, and on promoting free and very inexpensive content. Amazon's 70% self-publishing royalty was designed to encourage authors to list a bunch of content at the $3 price point. It's no surprise that the Kindle has attracted an audience that consumes this stuff almost exclusively.
In order to sell hundreds of thousands of books a year, even at low Amazon price points, authors like Konrath and Hocking have to be very prolific, because the audience for these very inexpensive e-books is still pretty small, even for self-published authors who are well-known.
Bestselling commercially published-books match or beat the bestselling Kindle titles unit for unit on the Kindle despite significantly higher pricing. These books simultaneously match or exceed their Kindle sales in hardcover sales through Amazon. And for most genres, bookstore sales are still 60-70% of total sales.
The idea that the market for these books is as large as the market for real books is an illusion that e-book vendors create by segregating e-book sales lists. The bestselling self-published e-books reach maybe 1/5 of the sales that bestselling hardcovers do.
It's not fair to Michael Connelly, but it is fair to the publisher.
Making an e-book cost MORE than a hardcover is simply an attempt to prop up print books. People protest how they will.
If authors want to go with publishers who are propping up print books, that is their choice, but they will have to live or die with the publishers.
Anonymous said, on 4/8/2011 7:49:00 AM
why you're repeating anything man hater & philistine Laura Miller says is beyond me. Her notion of feminism is both dated and one dimensional ie., women are "represented" in publishing, is a lie.
Look at most best seller lists, and you will see they are DOMINATED by women. Her take on anything - Hocking or Eisler - is suspect, and should be treated as such.
If you are going to put forth essays by her, could you make some effort to balance it out? Or question the integrity of her thesis (all men are published all the time, for example, is belied by the unspoken assumption that "all" men are heteronormative, and that "all" women are straight, denying the fact that people of color, queer people & anyone otherwise marginalized in this world have ever been fairly represented)?
Hocking & Eisler are fabulous examples of how well represented and empowered white, straight people are to go about their business so blithely. They will always have an audience, and people like Laura Miller will always be there, a la lap dogs, to celebrate and/or discuss their "groundbreaking" "accomplishments."
Anonymous said, on 4/8/2011 7:51:00 AM
from anony @7:49 a.m., meant to write, "UNrepresented" in the publishing industry
Anonymous said, on 4/8/2011 7:56:00 AM
Nathan,
Great post, as usual, but please see begthequestion.info
Thanks for all the helpful content, and please forgive the stickler moment.
And I'm sure next year the bracket will be yours! (How I phrased that probably shows how little I know about basketball, doesn't it?)
Ha, have you seen this article? http://www.slate.com/id/2290536/
Anonymous said, on 4/8/2011 8:06:00 AM
Nathan-- Haha, no! Thank you! It begs some interesting questions. I just really don't want to see words and phrases decimated, you know? ; )
Clueless said, on 4/8/2011 8:17:00 AM
Nathan, do you have any posts on the term "upmarket fiction"?? Literary with a commercial bent? Commercial with a literary bent?
Is it ridiculous to use two terms? Can you say "multicultural upmarket"? Should you pick one? If so, which is more "desirable" from an agent/editor perspective?
Oh, I totally agree! To me "begs the question" is one of those that's right on the border between old and new usage -- it's actually in the chart at the bottom. But I'm a stickler for others like fatalistic. Maybe I should reconsider on begging the question.
I think the most alarming thing about David Carnoy's article is that the publisher's actions have become a liability to the author.
Readers are no longer reacting to the author and his work, but to what they percieve as problems with the distribution channel.
Considering that one of the major advantages of traditional publishing IS distribution, I'd say that bodes ill for the industry. When publishers start negatively affecting authors' ability to reach and keep readers, what incentive would authors have to stay? It would mean the model is broken.
I really hope publishing leaders are savvy enough to adapt, because this is kind of a scary thought and I love traditional books and publishing!
Anonymous said, on 4/8/2011 8:55:00 AM
From the ABC article: "A lot of authors aren't looking at self-publishing as a last resort any more, but as the most sensible decision for them," said Sue Collier, co-author of "The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing."
And you can write the entire book in unattributed dialogue and get away with it, and no one will even know the difference :)
A fun contest! Thanks for sponsoring it, Nathan. Anna, congrats to you as well. A close race indeed. Just noticed I typed in Bradley instead of Butler on the game thread....groan
Man I miss the forums. I love it that you highlight the best threads for us Nathan.
Oh, and thanks for the shout out, and link, as always!
Anonymous said, on 4/8/2011 9:59:00 AM
Meanwhile, an independent publisher in the UK discloses the steep terms they have with Amazon and how they actually lose money on every sale.
Many vendors lose money on every sale at Wal-Mart. They have to be there, because their market channel is huge. They must have market exposure at Wal-mart, even if it costs them. Same thing goes for Amazon -- the online equivalent of Wal-Mart.
Nathan--thanks for the great post. Creepy bookstore video? Maybe the books will come alive and eat readers--or at least someone could write a sci-fi novel about it, cursed genre or not. Although maybe that's more of a horror idea. :)
Anon 8:55 "And you can write the entire book in unattributed dialogue and get away with it, and no one will even know the difference
Or a book with adverbs in every dialogue attribute. That's much more annoying.
Great posts by Sommer, Matt and Livia. Thanks for the links. A good rule of thumb - We must be aware of our presence online at all times.
No, e-book pricing should be a separate evaluation on an author's book. It's not a reason to diss an author. You can't judge all books by those at the top.
Hey, authors just want to eat like everyone else. (It's the personal appearance costs that some authors charge that bug me)
That BOOK ART is amazing. Like extreme attention to detail! Wow to the creator. I could look at those for hours if I could see them up close.
And thanks Mira for posting that great Oscar quote. It's a credo to live by. Oscar never seemed to be at a loss for words, did he?
Thanks Nathan for an interesting week of reading & vigorous discussion. Have a great weekend.
The false Amazon review thing drives me bonkers. And not just people who give one star reviews because of price, but also people who give one star reviews because of things like shipping or wanting it in hardback when it comes only in paperback.
I wish Amazon would stop people who have never bought the item from being able to review it. It should be an Amazon review site, not an Everyone review site, so if you didn't buy the item, or the item wasn't bought as a gift for you, you shouldn't be able to review it. Or maybe allow two different rating systems, one for Amazon ratings (prices, shipping, availability, etc) and product review ratings.
Thank you for the shout out! It means so much to me. Also, Matthew and Livia are both awesome!!
I took a look at the Salon article, because, omg, I'm self-published and TERRIBLE at self-promotion. I dont' sell many books because no one knows they're there - but now I don't feel so bad ; ) lol!
@Anon 7:49 AM: Laura Miller is a "man-hater and a philistine"?
What in the world leads you to say this, other than some sort of personal agenda?
Where the 1 star review for pricing falls apart for me—well, it does in a bunch of places, but in particular, the same 1 star applies to the print as well as the Ebook.
J. T. Shea said, on 4/9/2011 7:45:00 AM
Interesting that even tiny Linen Press' Lynn Michell (a woman BTW) is dreaming of bestsellerdom and Hollywood!
Jenny Bent is right, though her metaphorical distinction may not be necessary. Conduits often have valves, and a gatekeeper's job is as much to open gates as to close them.
Bravo to Mira! A great quote!
Anonymous said, on 4/9/2011 11:44:00 AM
If you're losing money on every copy selling through Amazon why sell through Amazon? Not sure I understand the business model
It's apparent from the comments the publisher has made in reply to commenters that they don't have much of a head for business. Or appear to have done much in the way of marketing except putting their books on Amazon. They see it as advertising. The publisher says they applied for a grant with the Scottish Arts Council (I think) and got turned down because they lacked a proper marketing plan. If I was an author with that particular house I would be very worried about their long term viability.
Thanks Marilyn and J.T. Friendship is such a nice, heartwarming thing. Thank you! :)
So, I read the links, and have some quick comments, because they were so interesting.
First, cograts to Bryce Daniels! Yay! And I read Sommer, Mathew and Livia's blogs, and was impressed by how powerful each one was in a different way.
Laura Miller's article sort of annoyed me, because it took as fact that Amanda's book sold due to social networking and price, which I think is very much not true. The ABC news was very interesting - yay, Zoe Winters! - and David Carney wrote an interesting, well balanced article.
That's sad about Amazon squeezing small publishers. I can't help but wonder if that's intentional. Amazon has been the writer's biggest support so far, but not so much with the publishers.
Terrific article by Jenny Bent - loved it!! And that was amazing book art - very cool. I thought the book repository was very sad, actually, and wondered why those books aren't being recycled!
Thanks so much, Nathan. Very interesting links this week.
Anonymous said, on 4/10/2011 1:57:00 PM
Hi Nathan, I'm a high school senior trying to deciding between two colleges - one in Boston and one in Washington D.C. Both colleges offer strong programs in business, communications (the journalism aspect of it), and English. I would like to work in publishing and intern for a literary agency. (I didn't apply to any NYC colleges because I didn't like idea of being too close to home. I sort of regret this now, but at the time I felt that it was important for me to get out of NY.) But anyway, here's my question: Which location has more opportunities with literary agencies - Boston or Washington D.C.? I've done some research and looked up literary agencies in both cities, but I'd be interested in knowing your opinion. I know there are other cities (like NYC) that are much better for publishing, but these are the only two options I have, and the internship opportunites will definitely be an important factor in deciding which college to attend. Thanks!
After reading all these posts and articles about self-published people getting so much attention, I can't help thinking maybe this is comparable to reality TV.
Reality TV stars without background or training seemed to take over. And those with acting credits and training, just had to step aside because the public welcomed them.
Very very very sad news this week as, after several years of speculation, Borders has finally succumbed and filed for bankruptcy. It was Chapter 11 bankruptcy (re-org) and not Chapter 7 (Eric from Pimp My Novel had a roundup of the potential difference there), but even still 200 stores will close, and my heart goes out to all those affected. Eric from PMN has an indispensable take on what this means for authors. In the short term, at least, it seems as if this is going to put further pressure on publishers and on the midlist.
Meanwhile, there was an interesting CNET article (disclosure: I work at CNET) asking a very important question and poll: what would you pay for an e-book? The agency model publishers are seeking to hold the line between $10.99 - $14.99 for new release e-books, and it will be interesting to see if consumers will go along with that. Is the perception of value going to be there for an e-book?
And along those lines, I thought Mike Shatzkin had a really interesting take on consumer complaints about DRM, which is that they're not totally valid. His point, in a nutshell: Yes, you can't re-sell your e-books and it's more of a license than true ownership. But when you sell a paperbook you lose ownership of your book, whereas when you send someone a copy of your e-book you still possess it. So why are people insisting on treating them identically? Doesn't the digital model necessitate a new way of thinking about and selling content?
And prospective author J.J. Madden has a great roundup of the recent Digital Book World, and video of some of the people creating the future of publishing.
Now, I did not represent picture books when I was an agent and thus will tell you quite honestly that I know extremely little about them, but someone who does know a thing or two about them is my former colleague Tracy Marchini, who has a really good post on what makes picture books successful.
In contest news, lots percolating around the blogosphere! Blog friends Hannah Moskowitz/Suzanne Young and Kiersten White are hosting contests, and the Texas Observer reached out to let me know about a short story contest guest judged by none other than Larry McMurtry. So be sure and check that out.
Lots and lots of people have reached out to me about this post by Ta-Nehisi Coates about a new documentary on Bad Writing. Which makes me wonder if they're trying to tell me something. Haha. No, and I don't need a breath mint, thank you very much!
In seriously important news, the ship that inspired MOBY-DICK was discovered at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker!!! No word on Ahab's ivory leg.
Scott (and the other blog) make a good point: To do a blog right, you have to devote significant time to it while knowing in the end, it will probably never be THE way you make a living as a writer. That's why I've been exploring ways to update my content more regularly (now MWF) while keeping it funny and yet not driving myself insane. The answer seems to be making fake greeting cards and web-diary-type movies I don't have to spend as much time thinking about.
RE: Blogging... I can understand what he's trying to say. Like social media, it can be a time-suck and feel like a waste. However, I also think that if you're mindful about why you're either blogging or tweeting or posting, it makes a difference. Otherwise, I think that novelists especially will think "it doesn't pay me -- if I'm going to write, I'll work on my novel" to the exclusion of promotion. Especially now, I'd say that's a mistake. You don't need to post a 1k blog daily to promote -- but consistent effort is necessary.
Woah, thanks Nathan -- comment of the week! I think my commenting career just peaked. It's all downhill from here...
That's an interesting piece about the Bad Writing documentary. Think I want to see that. And actually there's some serious truth in Ta-Nehisi's introductory paragraph: "I think the main reason more people don't write is the sheer terror of confronting yourself on the page." Too true. And that terror never goes away, even as you keep writing: it just keeps evolving into a more sophisticated type of terror.
I don't read ebooks, but I don't see why they should cost more than a mass market paperback. Understandably, you're buying the story not the packaging, but even with traditional print books there is a difference in price between hardback, trade paperback, and mass market paperback. As a reader and a purchaser of books, I see ebooks as being the electronic equivalent to the mass market paperback book. But, Maybe I'm missing something...
Cathy, you bring up a great point that's very relevant to this blog: can active blogging be valuable for novelists?
The post I linked to was about technical writing. I would imagine that an active blog from a domain expert could be instrumental for his/her nonfiction sales, e.g. a fitness guru blogging about fitness will probably help sell his fitness book). But for a fiction author, is blogging worthwhile?
Last I checked (a couple years back), the jury was still out on how much online self-promotion really helps novelists. Is a professional novelist's time better spent maintaining an online presence, or hiding in a cave writing his/her next book?
Anonymous said, on 2/18/2011 8:37:00 AM
the PMNovel link (second, affect on authors) is broken
I agree with Diana and Swampf - I mean, Mr.D, ebooks should be way cheaper. They don't accrue packaging, shipping and storage expenses. So why shouldn't that benefit be passed down to everyone?
Holy crap, I just looked down and my word verification is "greed". No joke.
I want to weigh in here, but I can't without being snarky...so I'll bite back the George Costanza comment (the internet is a fad)...
When editors and agents are demanding an online presence for new fiction authors, it's pretty tough to set it aside, whether it's peaked or not. I think until the publishing community defines "platform" and what an online presence needs to look like, authors are going to keep throwing crap against the wall.
and yes...too many cheesburgers isn't good for you either. It's called moderation people. As long as the children are fed, and mostly clean, and you're still finding time to write, I think you MUST also be online...
Scott: personally, I think blogging can be helpful, if not necessarily crucial.
Personally, I've subscribed to the concept of tribe, rather than platform. If you've got thirty minutes to spend on promo per day, rather than creating "push" information (like a blog) it's more important to connect. Commenting on reader blogs or review sites, participating on a forum, or asking questions/sending direct messages to target readership seems like a better use of time. If you've got a blog that speaks to your readership, then it'll give them a place to go to learn more about you, and hopefully draw them to your books pages while giving them stuff to read while waiting for your next release.
Just honing your craft and pumping out draft at the expense of promotion seems like career suicide these days. Like Survival Mama said, if "you're still finding time to write, I think you MUST also be online..."
That trailer is awesome. As a mom of two toddlers, all I hear is panic about pediatricians and milestones. Finally a book that exposes the crisis of parenthood.
I've said it many times before: if I can get an $8 mass market paperback, I'll be a little annoyed at the prospect of paying $10-14 for an electronic version. So far I haven't seen too many instances where that's the case, but there are a couple of forthcoming books I had planned to pre-order for my Kindle whose prices made me raise an eyebrow for that reason.
Scott's point about the cost vs. benefits of blogging is great from an economics standpoint. In many cases, yes, it will take time to build an audience and thus "profit" from blogging, but if you keep throwing time and energy in (the "cost") and aren't seeing any returns, and re-evaluate your strategy and still don't see any changes...at what point do you begin directing your attention elsewhere.
I also agree that we'll start to see more balanced usage of social media. Eventually it won't be novel anymore, just a normal part of everyday life and marketing, incorporated with everything else we do and not new or exciting or needing to be done 24/7. It'll just happen.
Too bad about Borders, but at least they have a fighting chance. (never say die) I hate to see a bookstore go under the hatchet.
Most of us already agree about the state of blogs, but in my mind they have much more staying power than Twitter & FB. Some people just want to connect socially, not necessarily to learn, or listen to others' opinions.
Blogger satisfies that writer urge to say something that others might hear and to practice being concise. (one just has to avoid rants). Know your purpose before you start blogging.
Eric's posts were great explaining the difference between the types of bankruptcy.
Ebook prices - 10.99 seems fair from a buyer's perspective, but most of us would prefer cheaper rates since we don't actually 'own the book'. More ebooks are bought when the rates are less, according to the post I read on J. Konrath's Newbie's Guide to publishing (one author's story this past week).
I'll probably be back, because I haven't even read them, but I did read your post and the comments and have thoughts I want to quickly share.
The first is about needing an on-line presence. I'm afraid I disagree. I think what you need is a good book. Once you have the book published, it might be good to go to some sites and directly market.
But basically, a good book will sell itself. That's especailly true nowadays with word of mouth on the internet being such a powerful force. As for what publishers want - well, frankly, I'm not sure why anyone cares nowadays what publishers want but that's a different dicussion.
What any author needs, and needs to be very honest with themselves about, is a book that people want to read. Shakespeare didn't have a blog, and he did just fine for himself.
On the other hand, a blog for writers can be a fun writing experience, so that's something else altogether.
Actually, I'll be back later for other stuff. So many fun things to have OPINIONS about. And only a small paper this weekend, so I have time to have OPINIONS. Yay!
Okay, that book trailer isn't very useful because I still know nothing about the book, BUT IT WAS FREAKIN' HYSTERICALLY FUNNY!!!! Filmstrips!! Oh my heart. I haven't seen a filmstrip in decades! Oh my. Thanks, Nathan.
I'm not clear on the value of that poll today. It's over a year old, and predates the Agency Model.
The Agency Five seem to have pretty much settled in to pricing the e-books for most Big Name novels at $14.99 for new releases, $12.99 when the e-book falls out of the Top 50 or so, and $9.99 when sales really drop off.
It certainly seems that the consumers are paying those prices. The poster child is probably Ken Follett's Fall of Giants. The e-book version has been priced at $19.99 since it was released last September 28th. Almost five months later, it's still #115 on Amazon's best-selling e-books list.
As a separate matter there's the e-book-ifying [look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls] of backlist titles. A number of consumers think that this should be instantaneous and zero-cost, and complain if a backlist title isn't available as e-book or if it costs more than the used paperback. Then they buy the e-book and it's rife with OCR or de-hyphenation errors which would have taken more time and money to find and remove, and the consumers complain about that, too.
I love the cover of Let's panic, funny and oh so accurate.
About blogging, it's sort of like we're all at some open-all-night writers convention. If everyone stopped blogging it would be akin to everyone leaving the room and the lights being turned out. I think message boards, twitter, facebook all have their place, and I think I prefer twitter above all, but I don't think I'm ready to see blogs go just yet.
I'm one of those people who seems to be behind on trends. I LOVE blogs, and blogging! I am having so much fun with it, and recently launched another one!
As a writer, it's helped me work, by meeting self-imposed deadlines. I also keep connected by reading what other writers have to say. I don't think I would read as many blogs if I wasn't into it myself. And I learn so much, the more I read. (Like here, on Nathan's blog.)
And I think I'm WAY behind on the ebook trend. It just has no appeal to me. I love books. Regular old books. Sorry, trees. But I am an avid recycler, so I hope that makes up for some of my lovely, pages flipping back and forth, paper books!
You know that smell? As soon as you walk into the library? Mmmmm...ahhhhh...BOOKS. I just don't think a Kindle smells like that.
Anonymous said, on 2/19/2011 10:37:00 AM
Wow, that's really sad about Border's closing. I remember feeling the same way when my local livery stable went under and the mule skinner's all lost their jobs as well.
That book trailer is the funniest thing ever. I especially like how it describes taking care of a baby as "horrifying monotony". Ha, ha, ha. That's hilarious. I want to read that book, even sans baby. Kudos to them.
I also thought the 'Bad Writing' trailer was funny, but I'm alittle tenative about giving my approval to the whole thing. I really, really, really hope it ends on a hopeful note, and not a discouraging one.
Because discouraging someone who wants to write from writing, well...frankly, interfering with anyone's creative expression is evil. There's no other way to say it. So tenative kudos to that documentary, I'm sure it's funny, but I hope it's not evil.
And I'm truly sorry to hear about Borders. My heart goes out to everyone affected as well. It's heartbreaking. As much as I welcome the technocological change, it's impossible not to be very sad for the losses.
Samantha G said, on 2/19/2011 2:40:00 PM
I like the idea of e-books going for so much- the average joe writer (pretty much everyone if you're not someone like Stephen King, J.K.Rowling e.t.c.) gets more out of it then.
I have to admit- no idea who or what Borders is- I'm based in the UK. I'm guessing a major bookstore, which in that case, that is extremly sad news indeed.
Publishing is HARD- why couldn't it all be millions of pounds, awards, and a book deal lasting the rest of your life, which guarenteed success no matter what happens? It would be so much easier for everyone like that.
Food for thought hey Nate? (Can I call you Nate- it has a certain ring to it.)
Anonymous said, on 2/20/2011 10:52:00 AM
eBooks are not print books. I cannot lend out an eBook. I cannot resell an eBook. And I cannot return an eBook.
The one big positive is that I can buy the eBook now, assuming the publisher has made the book available as an eBook.
All these things mixed together have me pricing an eBook at about $1.99. Around the same price as a iPhone app.
With Borders shrinking in my area, and with good used bookstores, I'll stick to free eBooks (I have a Kindle) and used books. I think $10 for an electronic book is pretty crazy.
I have grown quite fond of my kindle because I feel like I can read more and faster. I don't pay over $9.99 for a book, however, and there's is no way I'd pay $15 when I can get the hardcover on Amazon for under $12 most of the time! The only reason I got an e-reader in the first place was to save space in my small apartment so I'd definitely go back to print if they raised prices that much. Great blog!
I very much doubt anyone is going to want to pay that much money for an ebook unless the author is Stephen King. Most people seem to want cheap ebooks (less than a couple dollars) or ones that are entirely free. On another note: Go Rock!
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Thank you for the updates. You posted such a fantastic clandestine shot of New Your. Love it.
I was hoping you were going to say Atari was coming out with a device that let you enjoy stories on your television. Er ... wait.
That was an awesome interview.
Yeah, the interview was great :). And so was the article about the different paths to success. I remember reading about Ben Fountain's long road to success in Poets & Writers. Pretty amazing, especially his wife.
Barnes & Noble got a long-needed thumping. Some of the executive arrogance was gone from the financial report and the conference call.
In particular, they seem to have learned that when someone is thinking about buying a tablet, the name B&N doesn't spring to mind. That should've been obvious, but I guess it wasn't.
They still don't seem inclined to listen to their customers, though. The executives clearly know better what their customers want than the customers themselves do.
Their BN.com operation continues to lose them money after more than fifteen years, but all they had to say about that was "we're repositioning [it]." I don't know what that means. Are they going to clean up the user reviews? Are they going to start moderating their forums? Are they going to have people updating the site on weekends, so that Amazon doesn't get a 2-day jump on new titles and reduced prices?
B&N execs don't seem to grasp just how infuriating the Philippine customer disservice operation they've used for the past couple of years is. Nothing at all was said in the financial reports or the conference call about this matter.
B&N is a long way from financial collapse, but they've been bankrupt in customer-orientation for a long time. I don't know if the B&N execs don't notice, or if they just don't care.
Loved the Gladwell article, particularly since I have a Ben Fountain novel sitting on my top To Be Read Shelf.
I have never understood B&N's move away from stocking their store with actual, you know, BOOKS. Especially with Borders gone, they had a chance to increase their power as a place to go browse, read, and hang out.
Instead they took up prime retail space selling e-readers. (If I wanted to read online, I'd be home in my pajamas reading online; I wouldn't have come all the way out to the store!) Instead they started carrying fewer books, stocking their stores with random junk you don't go to a bookstore to buy.
If they want to prepare for a movement of the market away from print books, they should work on their cafe space. Make it even more friendly as a place to plug in, read, write, meet friends. The cafes are already there, and they provide an experience that shopping online at home doesn't.
I loved the albums-to-books post! Thanks for the link. :)
Being sued for 'breathtaking amounts' because a publishing company has supposedly conspired to raise the cost of ebooks sounds a bit insane to me. I mean, surely, companies can charge whatever they want for their own product? Could this whole thing be a kind of money-grab by a Government Dept?
Thanks for the very interesting links, Nathan :)
However, on second thoughts, I suppose the charge refers to the major companies supposedly making an agreement whereby they're not going to undercut each other on a certain price for a certain product - ebooks. Again, I don't see a problem, really, especially as independent publishers and self-publishers could then gain an advantage by charging much smaller amounts for their ebooks. I imagine that indies and self-publishers would have a harder time making sales, so being able to undercut the big boys would help the aforementioned find their own niche in the market.
Folk who would rather pay less for ebooks might have a case for being disgruntled, but then we'd all rather pay less for everything not just ebooks. And with larger companies more people need a slice of the pie, so it makes sense that their products would cost more than those of someone doing it alone or with only a few people involved.
I don't know how you keep up with all the changes. I rely on you to find the news. Thanks for doing the hard work that only requires me following links!
Hi Nathan! Thank you so very much for taking the time to do this. It is always very helpful!
Rebecca
Cool picture!
And great links, so many of them, thank you! :)
I thought the story about how the bookseller went and bought books at Target was pretty funny. You can't even chalk that up to Publishing practices - that's more about bureaucracy, and how crazy it gets! :)
On the other hand, it's noticeable that when all the stories about sock puppet reviews were going around, there were letters of protest, and much gnashing of teeth and pointing of fingers. But authors talking about buying their way onto bestsellers lists - with the blessing and guidance of their publishers? Where's the hair pulling and the accusations and the righteousness about that?
Seems like a double standard.
Although, on a - not a double standard note - I wish they would stop giving Barnes and Noble a hard time. Seems like there's an article every few hours about how Barnes and Noble is messing up. I wish they would leave Barnes and Noble alone for awhile, ease up on the pressure and let them think.
The records as book covers were pretty funny.
And I liked your interview, although I'm holding out for the 'elephant in the room' or maybe the 'middle-aged' Mick. :)
Oh, I wanted to respond to Wendy.
@Wendy - I'm not an expert, but from my understanding, no, this wasn't a money grab.
What the Publishers did was white collar crime. It was a felony that could have meant not only heavy fines, but jail time. The reason the penalties are so stiff is to discourage corporations from doing this. They can make ALOT of money through anti-trust actions (which is what this was), so the penalites have to be even higher to make it a very unappealing option if they get caught.
Five Publishers were sued not for raising prices, but for getting together to control the market. They all cut a deal with Apple, and then forced Amazon to take the same deal.
Coporations are not supposed to:
a. Get together and agree on a policy.
b. Force a less preferred retailer (Amazon) to accept it.
This is about competition. Business are supposed to be in competition with one another, they are not supposed to get together to try to control the marketplace, and hurt one retailer over another.
The point of this is to protect the free marketplace. If we didn't have anti-trust laws, we'd probably have one big corporation that controlled everything as it amassed all the wealth. It would be a corporate dictatorship, and no, I'm not exaggerating. This is why a free and competitive marketplace is such a big deal. Competition is supposed to help protect the consumer against corporate greed.
What the Publishers did cost Amazon money, and it cost the consumers money, too. Several States have successfully sued to get the consumers their money back. But the real issue is the llegal collusion.
I hope that all made sense, like I said, I'm not an expert. You could google 'anti-trust' law and get alot more information.
One of the best feeling in the world is when you're hugging the person you love, and they hug you back even tighter.
You know, I saw those Calvin and Hobbes photos and I'm not sorry for the guy. There was absolutely no credit given to Bill Watterson on the post I saw. I realize that doesn't mitigate copyright issues, but it struck me as incredibly rude.
Thank you for the updates, Nathan! I just read your old post discussing the idea that bookstores may go the way of the old record stores. I totally agree with you.
We had a lovely little independent bookstore downtown in my New England suburb. Back in October of 2007, Borders opened up a huge store in a newly built shopping plaza about a three-minute drive from downtown. The indie store survived for a little while longer, but eventually most everyone started shopping at Borders instead. It was a sad day when the indie store went out, but I couldn't really blame anyone for choosing the corporate giant, with all the advantages it offered.
Then, almost two years ago, I saw the standard email from the CEO of Borders announcing the closing of the business. I actually wrote an open letter response outlining what I believe to be the formula for success when it comes to brick and mortar bookstores. They have to give the consumer something an online store simply cannot, in the form of face-to-face interaction.
Amazon has many great forums, but it's not the same as getting together with a group of people in person and passionately discussing a book you've all read. The immediate back-and-forth dialogue, the constant interruption of each other because you wholeheartedly agree or passionately disagree.
You must create a place where local authors come and speak, and university professors offer lectures, a place where people get to know their neighbors over a cup of coffee and some lively discussion. You have to build a literary community center...that also sells books.
Sorry for the long comment—I’m really passionate about this subject!