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Thanks to Netflix and other media streaming services, we now have the ability to “binge watch” entire series on our computers or our televisions, which, by all accounts, has completely revolutionized the way we watch tv. Netflix original programming releases an entire season of a series in one shot, removing the agony of waiting and reruns. Binge-watching has become such a phenomenon that Collins Dictionary UK has declared it their word of the year.

In fact, Binge-Watching is so much of a phenomenon that publishers are latching on to this idea, and are attempting to spawn a new phenomenon- binge-reading!

About 3 years ago, Canadian author Eric Walters approached his publisher Orca Books with a revolutionary idea. He wanted to publish a group of 7 linked adventure novels and release them simultaneously. Crazy? For a publishing world used to releasing a series one book at a time over the course of months or years, it might have seemed so, but Walters and Orca struck gold with the concept. Readers could purchase the entire set all at once, and there was no waiting for the next book. They could finish one and move onto the next without ever having to miss a beat. Series such as Conspiracy 365 and The Last Thirteen started by releasing a few titles at a time, and then one a month over a short period, and they also gained traction with audiences who appreciated the shorter turn-around time for the next book.

As someone who often reads book one of a new series and never quite makes it back to the next one when it comes out a year or two later, I love this idea. I hate waiting for the next book. I hate waiting for the next episode for that matter, and don’t even get me started on waiting over mid-season and summer hiatuses. The longer the wait between books, the less detail I’ll remember about the first book, and it takes away from my reading experience to keep trying to play catch-up and remember what happened in the previous book which was probably 100+ books ago for me. If I have immediate access to the rest of the books in the trilogy/series, I will likely read them all in one shot. While Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander is by no means finished, having all 8 books in the series on my shelf has made it much more appealing for me to read the entire series. As soon as I finished one, I could pick up another, and another, and so on. I’m currently 1/3 of the way into book 5, but with fall being as busy as it is, my binge-reading of the series will have to wait until the next time I have an extended break.

According to an article I came across today on http://publishingperspectives.com/2015/11/forget-binge-watching-try-binge-reading/?utm_content=buffer659af&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#.Vk-AM3arS71, market research is showing that more and more kids are binge-reading popular series fiction such as Wimpy Kid, and that readers tend to buy all of the volumes of a series at once rather than gradually. For an author, publishing more rapidly can lead to increased sales, in that you can keep building on the momentum of your first book. My customers love series that have multiple volumes available at once, because they all tell me that with kids, you need at least 3 to make an impact on the shelf and get discovered.

Are there any drawbacks to this? Possibly. I’m sure there will be numerous studies that later show we are feeding the “now” impulse and not teaching kids (or adults) the value of patience or delayed gratification. There have also been hints that the more books an author is pushed to publish in a year, the greater a chance that the quality of writing will suffer, which also isn’t a good thing for publishers, authors or readers.

Regardless of the pros and cons (of which I’m sure there are many), it looks like the era of binge-reading is gradually coming upon us, and I for one, am happy to embrace it. Now please excuse me while I dive back into my latest series.

It's no longer news that there have been some dramatic changes at Berkley/NAL, changes that aren't necessarily a complete surprise, but still difficult for everyone involved.

I knew this was something I needed to, and wanted to, address on the blog, but after several starts and restarts I realized I wasn't sure what I wanted to say.

When Random House and Penguin announced the merger in 2013 everyone in publishing knew that change would be coming. At the beginning of 2015 we started to see the first effects of those changes.  Appointments were made announcing new names in new positions, contract renewals were slow to come and imprints were consolidated. While I'm not sure any of us foresaw what exactly would happen, it's hard not to look at these changes and see why it did happen. In many cases there was just too much overlap between the many imprints of the new Penguin Random House.

It's been a tough week for a lot of people, including the BookEnds team. We've been in business for over 15 years and we've worked with editors over at Berkley/NAL for 15 years. These are long-standing, trusted relationships. I'm not going to lie, when I hung up the phone with an editor who lost her job I cried. She's good at what she does and a victim of restructuring. I'm going to miss discussing everything from cover copy, to contract negotiations, to cover art, to an author's next idea with her.

While agents and editors are often seen as working on opposing sides, the truth is we work more closely than many realize. I think sometimes even more closely than we realize. Together we are part of an author's team and together we work to try to make each decision in the author's best interest. That means long discussions about the cover art, the cover copy and even the direction an author is taking with her next book or her career. An author's success means success for all of us. Seeing an editor leave, for any reason, is losing a trusted member of my team.

Well if I'm upset, you can imagine the state of many Berkley/NAL authors. The question in almost every author's mind is what's next. What can an author expect during a time of upheaval with their publisher and what should an author do? Of course each author's experience is different. For some everything is status quo and nothing should change. For most, unfortunately, change is inevitable. Even those who are lucky enough to retain the same editor, change is happening within the publisher and that will have an impact on everyone. This could be because of the change in the art department, the copy department or even buying decisions. I'm not saying it's all bad, I'm just saying there will be change.

The first thing to remember is that we can't control the actions of others. The only person you can control is yourself. Panicking isn't going to help, but coming up with a plan might.

Once you've taken a few deep breaths here are some suggestions:

1. Penguin Random House just introduced this wonderful Author Portal where you can see sales, royalty reports and get hints and tips to how to build your brand as an author. Spend some time there and really look things over. Take notes if you need to. Get some perspective on what more you might be able to do to build sales and, most importantly, get perspective on how your brand is doing. A good CEO always has an idea of how well the company is doing at any given moment. As the CEO of your brand you should do the same. Check out your book sales. Are they going up? Going down? Do they seem to be holding strong?

2. Talk with your agent. Once you have an idea of what your numbers look like, give your agent a call to discuss them with her. What concerns do you have and are they valid? Should you continue on the same path or is coming up with something new a good idea? Knowing how to proceed is always smart, plus, as one author once said to me, "it's always good to have something in your back pocket."

3. Ignore the gossip. I can only imagine what the writing loops and discussion boards look like right now. In fact, I think I'd prefer not to imagine it. Watch out for the doom and gloomers, the Chicken Littles with the falling skies. This sucks. It sucks for a lot of people, but as in any good Dystopian YA, those who are prepared to fight and accept change will win. Those who want to sit in a hole and refuse to accept change, will die (probably in some horribly gruesome death). If you are concerned about some of what you're hearing please call your agent. Many times she has an insider's perspective that can be very helpful.

4. And here is the same advice I give in any situation. Keep writing and make your next book even better than the last.

Change is always a frightening thing and it's not going to be an easy road for some people, but those who are willing to pull up their boots and keep walking (love that song) will always see the light at the other side.

--jhf

Yesterday I introduced some of the new possibilities in self-publishing, primarily e-book and print on demand. But why would anyone choose to self-publishing a great book? Isn’t it better to try for a traditional publishing deal? Assuming you can get that traditional publishing deal in a timely manner… maybe.

Self-publishing is a gamble. Many people talk about the greater money that can be made through self-publishing. Of course, it’s not quite that simple. You can make more per book, but you still have to sell a large number of books in order to make more money than you’d get with a decent advance. Plus, there’s always the temptation of taking money now (an advance!) versus waiting for possible money later as a book takes maybe a year or two to find its audience with self-publishing.

Traditional publishing is a gamble as well, but once you have that traditional publisher’s advance, you get to keep it even if the book doesn’t sell. With self-publishing, you have no guarantee that your book will ever sell and you don’t get money unless it does. So it’s no wonder that many authors who are selling their books and getting decent advances would rather stick with the traditional publishing system.

Money Can’t Buy Happiness

But money isn’t the only consideration. Sure, I’d like to make more money from each published book, but that’s not my primary motive for self-publishing. My first concern is the amount of time it takes for editors to respond to submissions—often six months to a year or more even with an agent or when I know the editor personally. And that’s just to get any response, even a “No.”

I can’t run my business this way. It takes too long to get answers, too long to get a contract, and way too long to get the book in print. When the rest of our world is speeding up, publishing seems to be slowing down. I have one friend whose editor has taken five years on her book, with up to a year for each revision letter.

With self-publishing, you can have your book available in a few weeks or months (depending on how much time you devote). This is especially an advantage if you have a timely book—one that fits current trends or relates to something in the news.

You may not get an advance up front, but you start earning money immediately. Amazon pays monthly for the previous month’s sales—compared to royalty statements every six months. Getting paid sooner means you can afford to spend time working on the next book. Check out Joe Konrath’s blog post on Time Is Money for a comparison of the math: “Every day your book isn’t being sold, is a day lost that you could have been earning money.”

The ability to control when your book is published, and to publish as many books a year as you want (and can write) are factors drawing some people to self-publishing.

Opportunities In Special Cases

I know plenty of authors who love their editors and are happy with their publishing situation. I know at least as many who have suffered from career-damaging setbacks. One of these challenges probably hits speculative fiction writers more than most: The canceled series.

The Spectacle’s own Joni Sensel has faced this. If you loved The Farwalker’s Quest and its sequel, The Timekeeper’s Moon, you may be waiting for the third book in the trilogy. Problem is, the publisher isn’t going to publish it.

Joni has finished writing the book. She has a fan base. And now she has a way to publish it herself. She may or may not have great s