The E-Book Syndrome

So, I’m going to post this blog despite my feelings that *most certainly* I will be flamed for what will be said. But it’s my blog, and I’ll write if I want to! Flame away, or join the cause – all comments welcome.

Here’s the most recent drama in the book-publishing world:

http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx2MEGQWTNGIMHV&displayType=tagsDetail

Basically, it involves a mega-multi-million dollar publisher attempting to seize control of the e-book market. Here’s how it all shakes out:

E-books, or digital books, available for devices like the Amazon Kindle, or the new B&N Nook, are available on Amazon.com. And Macmillan Publishing sees fit that they need to charge the consumer between $12 – $15 dollars to be able to download said book to one’s device. Yes, you read that right – for the cost of a trade paperback book, you could be the owner of an e-book!

Amazon had a policy wherein e-books needed to be at a price point below $9.99. Discussion about said prices ensued. Amazon pulled the ‘purchase’ button from all of Macmillan products. Then on the very next day retracted their stance, and are supposedly going to reinstate the Macmillan purchase buttons.

I’m sorry, but this really chaps my a$$. First off, the ‘Big New York 6’ didn’t give a cr&% about e-books until the last three years. E-books have been selling very well on other sites for years. And then the ‘Big 6’ took a look and came to the obvious conclusion that, “Hey! E-books sell!” Wow, surprise, surprise. Small press has known this for years. Okay, pardon granted, Big 5. But to be so greedy to charge over $10.00 for an e-book? That’s where I draw the line.

“Oh, but Macmillan has the author’s interest at heart. We (as authors) don’t make much on sales anyway, and they are protecting us.” – No, sad to say, author, they only have their pockets in mind here. Seriously, they’re saying . . . oh, then we will all get a better price. Yeah, sure. Let me ask this simple question – Beyond the initial publishing (editing, acquiring, distribution costs, printing costs, marketing, advance to author (haha), and operating costs), what out of pocket costs does an e-book create? In reality, the listing (may cost), the creation (using specific software – and we all know that software costs), employee time to post to sites, that’s about it. There are NO other costs (unless the e-book is the ONLY edition). So, why Macmillan can you charge so much for an e-book? And as far as your percentage – it’s PEANUTS- and the author only will get cents per sale. Pitiful.

Small press has the e-book done right. First, we as authors make (based on my current small press publishers) closer to 50%. And why the heck not??? It does NOT cost the publisher one iota to produce multiple copies of an e-book! Next, I find it appalling that most of my author friends are accepting an e-book contract that states they get a percentage (usually 15%), off of net for the sale of the e-book. Net will mean that by the time everyone takes their percentage, and then costs, you’ll be left with less than a few pennies per sale. Yeah, do you still think that Macmillan is in it for you? So many authors have been snowed by the ‘we’re in it for you, and want to make you more money’ thing that Macmillan has been spouting. Bull. They’re in if for THEM, and ONLY THEM! They don’t care about your readership, about how your customers will have to pay more, or IF your readership would be willing to doll out more green. It’s a one-way street – and I’m really surprised by the number of my authorly friends who have fallen for this fallacy. I’m NOT a mathematician, but when it comes to my money – I KNOW the difference between net and gross sales.

What this really equates to is this – Macmillan is after the sales. They are expecting that the consumer will just buy blindly the e-book at such an inflated costs. Greed, pure and simple – and after years of denying that the e-book would sell, it makes it even that much more disgusting to me.

I’ve been asking readers for six years, “why do you buy an e-book?” and attended several panels at conventions geared to finding out the answer. So, let me enlighten (with my six years of wisdom, asking real readers what they thought about the e-book).

First, there is the tentative sale. These are the consumers who wonder, ‘will I like this book’. And certainly, the lesser the dollar spent, the more likely the sale. These consumers also are likely to then purchase the ‘real deal’ if what they read is likable.

There is also the convenience customer. They buy the book because it is readily available, no wait, no driving to a store. But let me ask this – which would this group pay more for – the frozen lasagna, or the home-made one from the Italian restaurant up the street? Of course, you get what you pay for!!! So, the frozen variety, while it is readily available, it’s also not up to snuff with Mama Genovias’ one that you have to order and wait for. That is the e-book – readily available, but should NOT cost the same as the real-deal.

Then comes the both consumer. This consumer likes to have a hard copy that will be covered, sheathed and never opened upon their shelf. They buy an e-book so they can read it again, and again, and again, without any wear to the initial product.

Then there is the traveler (less frequent in our current state of economy) who likes to have 99 books in hand at any given point.

And lastly, there is the ‘ever-faithful-reader’ who will buy anything that their favored author puts out. Even then, these buyers draw a line. Why would they buy an e-book (that can’t be signed)? These consumers want to have their name emblazed by the pen of the author, stating something like, “thanks to my number one fan, much love, X author.” Can’t do that with an e-book.

Speaking of economy – how does Macmillan expect that people who are out of work, being laid off, and basically losing their income – to be able to afford books? I guess they don’t. I’m sorry, but that is an epic fail all around. As an author, I can NOT survive without my readership, and neither can they. Why do they think that now is the time to increase the price of e-books? Seriously. If the majority of the population can’t afford a trade paperback at $12.00, how do you expect that an e-book at the same price point will sell? Wouldn’t now be a time for the publishers to offer discounted products - stimulate the need/want, as opposed to quashing the needs of the majority of the public? I would look very favorably upon a publisher who offers discounts at a time of need.

Maybe they’re optimistic (or greedy). Or maybe I’m just pessimistic (or seeing it for what it really is)? Either way, I think that the consumer should tell Macmillan just what we think about their new price point – take it and stuff it!

I firmly believe that e-books should not cost the same (or even close to) the price point of a print book. Certainly a print book means that there is an actual cost to produce said product (no matter how low or not), whereas the e-book, it is straight greed.

I rest my case.

If It Smells Like a Fish. . . It IS!

Oh brother. I know I've been saying that I can see things changing in the publishing industry in the upcoming months, but THIS is NOT what I meant, nor is it anything but bad news.

Recently Harlequin announced their own 'self-publishing' division. Er, well. . . not really. You see it is actually an even more horrible state of affairs - it is VANITY publishing.

To recap for those of you not in the publishing circles:
Self-publishing = you do it all. You are the publishing house, you pay to have the book printed (like LULU) create cover art, edit. In return you ISBN is owned by you (will say Joe's publishing house), and you also get all the cashola you make (minus printing fees) by selling books.

Vanity Publishing = you pay money to a publisher. They do printing, give you an ISBN (that says Harlequin - in this case), maybe edit (again, jury is out on that one) and help with cover art (note; that's only help, not actually creation of any real cover art more than clip art). In return you get. . . royalty based on sales. Now, that royalty is probably around less than 30% (NOTE: there is Nothing on HQ's site telling you the percentage of royalty, so could be a lot lower/higher). Oh, and dear author, don't forget, your publisher takes their cut too - usually the majority of the money, because after all they've done ALL this work for you.

Vanity is screwing the author. Plain and simple. While I'm not a fan of self-publishing at all in any way, shape, or form, vanity publishing is wrong on so many levels. . .

And this is the second large press in the past three months to have moved to this type of model.

So - What is going on in the publishing industry? Have all the standards gone out the window, and are we now going to play screw the author who isn't savvy enough to understand how this works - they take the money and RUN?

Oh, you say, "but the author could sell their books and make money, right?"
First, I need to pick myself up off the floor. I fell from my chair laughing. Now to answer that question. . . WRONG!
Let's do some math, shall we (and you KNOW how I hate math):
Initial investment in HQ's rouse is $1,000. Okay, not too out there. Let's be generous and say that for each book you sell, that you get $2.00 royalty. You would need to sell OVER 500 books just to make back the monetary outlay. Now, granted that doesn't sound like a lot, and truly in terms of general book sales, it isn't much. But the point here is that while the magic number of 500 is only enough to pay yourself back.

Even at 500 - the self-publishing model looks a heck of a lot better! Initial investment in self-publishing is usually lower, but even for sake of argument, let's say you chose the $1,000 package. Now, here's where it's very different from vanity publishing because no one else gets a cut of that sale! So, likely you'll make closer to $8 a book royalty, thus only requiring 125 books to be sold.

And even better. . . GET A REAL PUBLISHER!!!! You won't have to pay a dime, nothing, nada, and then for every book you sell, you'll get your royalty and it's gravy because you didn't have to pay! Wow, what a concept.

This is smacking of who cares about our reputation, let's just worry about the money. Hey, I know we're all on hard times, but doing this? I don't know.

I still say that there are going to be big changes to the publishing industry, but I'm still certain this isn't what I had in mind.

4 Book Give-Away!

Okay, so in October, my favorite month, I get as giddy as a schoolgirl who was just asked to the prom. I go from speaking engagement to another event (with sometimes multiple bookings in one day), excited to talk about my books. I love sharing my stories with others, and especially this time of year, spooktacular central, or October, I'm a sought after commodity.

Well, I can't be in all places, and with the cost of travel lately, I'm forced to stay a bit closer to the place I call home (or at least 100 miles radius thereof).

So, since I'm feeling in a frightfully good, sharing kind of mood, I've decided to run a little contest and give away 4 books! (your choice of book, and either e-book, or paperback)

Here are the rules if you wish to play along.

I'll post 4 different questions. Some will be easier, others more difficult. A correct answer to the question will close that question down and the person with the correct answer will be awarded their choice of book written by yours truly.
*IF you guess a question correct, you are automatically ineligible to answer other questions. ONLY 1 book per person.* (I'm trying to be fair and spread the love here)

So - to make sure we all get it -
1 - I post question.
2- first person to correctly answer question, receives book from me.
3 - that correct answer shuts down that particular question (so if you know the answer, and want a book, you better act quick before some other genius guesses correctly).

Contest will remain open until questions are all correctly answered and books awarded. Some questions will require a bit of work on your part - meaning, you may need to hunt out the answer, or have seen me at a local event in order to know.

To Answer: send me an email (author@christinabarber.net) with contest in the subject line and then provide the question number and answer. It's that simple.

I'll announce here, on the blog, when the question has been answered correctly, by whom, and then what the correct answer is. (in case you're curious).

SO- Ready to get to it?!? Let's rock:

ANSWERED! 1) What is the name the town where I grew up? Answer: Mountainside, New Jersey. Correct answer goes to Matt!

ANSWERED! 2) Who was the cover artist for my novel, Seely's Pond? Answer: Mark Helwig. Correct answer goes to Dana! If you wish to see more of his work, check out his website at www.markhelwigart.com.

3) At the recent Necronomicon convention, in a crowded panel room, I stated: (either panel will work, and get as close as you can to my words. If there's a tie here, I'll pick the more precise answer):

On the panel, 7 Mistakes Writers Make, What was my Pick for the 7th mistake writers make?

Or

During a discussion on Women in SF/F panel, my panel mate commented that he critiques romance in return for his partner to critique his sci-fi work (both admit to dislike the others genre). My comment to him about things he DIDN'T discuss in his critique was?

4) Who is it that I believe haunts my home?

A Rant (or whine), Take it or Leave it

Oh, yay, yet another day in the life of a miffed writer post. Too bad. Suck it up, and read on, or click away. A warning though, I'm in one of those 'feisty' moods.

Rejection. It sucks no matter how you look at it. Whether it's on a query to an agent, or a submission to a publisher, it is inevitably, and unfortunately, part of the publishing business. I'm sure every aspiring writer, and published writer, has heard this ad nauseam. And everyone who has been there, done that, owns the t-shirt, can also tell you that you have to keep trying.

And it is that - trying. Yep, trying my patience. You have to wait, and wait, then get that rejection, sometimes so fast that you wonder if they even read one word, before tossing it into the big 'R' pile.

But honestly that's not the part that is, pardon the expression, but burning my biscuits. What's got me angry is timing. For what it's worth, timing is everything.

I've discovered that you may have the new best idea, with clever characters, well-written plot, and done in a way that hasn't been slimmed to death by a thousand other authors, yet no one will give it the time of day. And it's all because of timing. Damn. Unfortunately when one book becomes an instant hit, you'll see publishers scrambling to climb aboard the money express. All they want is, 'how can we get our own series like that one? or can so-and-so write something like this? and pull from their stable of authors' and grab at the opportunity to get similar books to ride the popularity wave. And hey, you can't blame them! They know what the public demands, and so they'll give it to them. Oh, and in the process make a butt load of money. Again, no qualms there either.
But that only equals the market being flooded with type X novels. Be it other houses wishing to grasp that golden 'hot' ring, or new writers who want to hook into the hottest selling stuff. Well again, here goes with the timing. First, it takes around 18 months from the time a book is purchased from the author until it sees the bookstore shelf. So, what's hot now isn't what will be hot in 18 months. Never, ever, write to the current market. By the time you get your novel out, it'll be glutted with others like it and no one will touch it with a ten foot pole. Even IF you write something a little different, it's just not going to appeal to agents and editors because they are looking for the next big thing, not last years clearance items.

So, while writing takes skill, patience, and tenacity, it also takes a ton of luck. BTW- luck has never been my strong suit. But I'll keep plugging away, because if nothing else, by sheer bullheadedness, I'm going to get there.

And Where Have YOU Been Young Lady?

Okay, so you're probably wondering if something had happened to me, possibly something like that I fell off the face of the earth, right? No, sorry, just got stuck in limbo.

Between all kinds of general 'life' chaos, I hadn't done much in the way of writing. Partially because 1) my vampire series was still in limbo. No offers. And you certainly don't want to waste your time writing book two if the first in the series hasn't been purchased.
2) because I didn't know where I wanted to go from here - what was I going to write next?

There was also a niggling feeling that my work was flat, it was missing something. And it wasn't easy to qualify that statement so I could find a solution to the problem. I agonized over it, which of course didn't help matters. I wanted desperately to go back into Eideann's War and rewrite it, fix the staleness, but how?

Over the summer I read a few books, at the suggestion of my husband (thanks, love!). I wasn't looking to dissect the books, but rather to just plain out read for enjoyment. But that's when the 'Ah-ha!' moment struck. It was my voice, or lack thereof that caused me to feel my work was flat. Funny thing is that I was told in a rejection that while the storyline, and writing were good, it lacked any distinct voice. Voice. I never really understood what the meant, until now. Sure, I'd heard the term often enough in writing seminars, and among fellow authors, but it never clicked.

The hardest thing about learning to trust my voice was that damn internal editor. You know the one, with the huge red pen, dark, brooding eyes, that pops up way too often commenting, "No, no. You can't do that." or "No, that's not correct. You can't say it that way. And you certainly don't need that information." I had learned some pretty hard lessons over the years, but my first eye opening critique group is the one that had beat me into shape - or truly over-beat me.

I'd taken my my bruised and shredded manuscript, and worked hard to eliminate all the unnecessary information, but to a fault. 'Throat clearing' was the term used - what a writer does before they actually get to the story. Unfortunately they called the first four chapters of my novel, throat clearing, or extraneous. I cut, cut and cut some more. Every time I went to write descriptive, that horrid editor would jump out, "Is that really necessary to the over all story?" Most of the time my answer was no, and then I'd delete it, or simply not write it.

But something has to be said for overall descriptive prose. Certainly we don't want, or need chapters upon chapters of basic information, but in a way, we do. This is where I find myself today. Now I know there is more to world-building than just knowing everything about the world in which your characters live - your reader needs to see it as well. And it will all come out in the form of my voice - how I wish it to read, how I want the story to be told.

That internal editor - well, she's bound, gagged, and told that if she even makes a peep, I'm callin' in the 'Guys' from Jersey to make her a custom set of cement shoes. I can't have her dead, after all, I'll need her eyes later, way later, after I'm ready to edit.

So - with a new found voice I revamped my vampire novel (yeah, pun-ny huh?). I inserted things that I wanted my reader to see, places, people, all how I want the story to be told.

Speaking of limbo - I'd stopped querying for around a year on this novel. It was honestly one day away from becoming a trunk novel (one that will lay in a drawer for years, untouched). But after my work on it, I've decided to try again. It has been year, and I've also noticed a trend. Several agents are now actively looking for horror, literary horror, or upscale horror. Ask anyone in the publishing industry and they'll tell you what may sell today, won't tomorrow, or next year - and visa-versa.

I'm a firm believer in 'things happen for a reason', so maybe I'll find out what the grand plan is.

But incase we still don't have any nibbles on Eideann's, I have been working on a new series - sort of a YA with lots of psychic abilities, ghosts, and outerworldly trouble.

So, to answer that original question - I've been busy!

Non-Romantic Vampires

This is a pet peeve of mine, that is, vampires that are all about romance. I'll confess, I don't read romance. It just doesn't 'do it' for me. There's something that really irritates me about Happily Ever After (aka HEA). Life doesn't end in an HEA. Ever. I know that really sounds as if I'm a pessimist, but for clarity sake here, I'm not saying that people can't be happy, but rather that the EVER AFTER part is bogus. There's always something that crops up to cause change or unrest.

Now onto the real issue - the vampires and romance. Of course there's a ton of books out there with vampires and romance - including the wildly popular Twilight Series. It's not my cuppa. Believe me, I've tried to read some of these Best-selling fiction, but each time I find I'm disgusted with the leather-pants wearing vampire hottie man (usually with long hair) who falls in love with a mortal woman, though he knows he's not supposed to be with her, thus making him a bad boy too. And she is strangely attracted to him, all of his hulking mass, and despite him being a 'monster' (yeah right), she loves him anyway. Ugh. Tell me how many novels that little blurb describes - probably the majority. They're all the same underneath, and the paint on top is just a slightly different color (if you get my drift).

Let's face it, romance sells. Period. No matter what other genre trappings, if there's romance in the novel, it'll more than likely have a better chance of hitting the shelves than those that don't. And mine don't. To go one step further down that path, I will not consider adding it either. It doesn't make sense in the way I wish to portray my vampires and world.

I KNOW there's a readership out there, hungry for vampire novels that don't have romance. I know this as fact since I've spoken with a lot of you at conventions, book signings, and other events. I also know that there are always changes in what is popular, and I'm placing my money on a movement away from the shiny, leather-pant, long haired, hunky vampire toward a darker, more evil fanged friend. When you look at vampire lore, you'll see that vampires are evil, undead creatures of the night.

And what about a strong female vampire lead? Novels like that are definitely far and few between. This is where I'm going with my vampire series. I have a strong female lead, with a funny, yet strong male counterpart. One of my beta readers said their relationship is very much like Scully and Mulder from the X-Files. Even my vampire is different. I went out to mythology to find a different take on vampire lore. While it is a loose interpretation, I'm using the myth of The White Women of the Scottish Highlands.

Now, to be fair, I will say that there has been some interest in the series by a few select publishers. To date, we do not have any offers. Yet. And certainly when we do receive the offer, I'll be certain to let you all know. :-) (See I'm really an optimist).

Imagicon - Day 2 and 3

So, with all that went on, I didn't have time to update the blog until now - Monday morning after the convention, sorry.
Here is the recap of day 2 and 3 of Imagicon:
Saturday started with a 10am panel on Killing off Characters. We had a blast discussing ways in which we 'did in' characters. From there I went to my table and chatted with all those who stopped by. Just before Noon (and my two panels), we had a fire alarm go off and had to exit the convention space. So, now we have all these costumed people standing outside, meandering around, waiting until we were allowed back into the building. I have to say that several passers by did a double take, the kind that could cause whiplash, when they saw this motley crew standing around outside. After a few minutes, we were allowed back in, and I scrambled to the panel room. Since I was double booked, I'd decided to do a half-and-half session at each. The first half hour, I attended the Ghouls and Monsters panel. We had fun talking about the monsters we created. And in usual style, I tossed out a question to my fellow panelists, then promptly left!
From there, I raced, literately, down the escalator and into the 1st floor panel, No DQ Q&A. There, I joined wrestler Mr. Terrific, and Amazing Race stars to discuss whatever the audience wished to talk about. Of course, my field of ghosts really brought out the goose bumps, as expected. After that session, I wandered back to my table and chatted with more folks, and sold and signed books.
Sometime around 5:00, my stomach reminded me that it was once again time to find food, since the last meal had been at 8 in the morning. After packing up, I headed to grab a burger at the pub - yes, I know I was a bad girl, but it certainly was worth it!
In all the running, I'd forgotten about the Artist Meet and Greet, and realized it wasn't too late to stop by. After making a wrong turn, I found the room. I had a nice glass of wine, and talked with the artists attending the convention.
At 7:00 I went to my last panel of the day, Making make-believe, believable. I was really tired, but managed to keep it together and give my thoughts on the topic.
After the panel, I went to my room and crashed. Hard.

Sunday:
We had an early start - the writing seminar started at 8am. This meant that I had to be up, ready, packed, checked-out of the hotel, and fed all by 8. I managed to accomplish it, but I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I'd gone to bed early the night before. We broke into groups and started helping the attending writers with their prose. My group worked our guys hard. We had them write both a character, as well as a setting, using prompts that we'd given them. They did a great job!
At 11:30, I went directly to the panel, Creating Villains, where we discussed creating the 'bad guys' and answered some great questions tossed out to us by the audience.
With a long drive home ahead, I left when the panel was over.
All in all it was a good convention. I met a lot of new faces, and had some good times talking with some old friends.
Here are the links to those writerly friends, all of whom were panel mates at one time or another over the course of the weekend:
Alan Gilbreath
M.B Weston
Jeremy Lewis
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Jeannie Holmes
Wandering Men