eBook Evolutions: Author Perspective

Apr. 21 2011 - 10:31 am | 697 views | 1 recommendation |

This is the first of a series of ongoing posts I plan to do on the changes in the publishing industry brought about by eBooks: mainly via the impact of Amazon’s Kindle and more recently Apple’s iPads.

I want to start by discussing new writers who are finding that Amazon and Apple offer them a much easier route to building loyal readers than the traditional publishing route of finding an agent and landing a deal with one of the New York publishing houses.

Gary Ponzo is a rising star in the Kindle world and beyond. I met him on Facebook when another FB friend mentioned his book A Touch of Deceit.

A little over a year ago, Ponzo, who had already published several stories in highly regarded magazines and been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, landed a book deal with a hardcover publisher for his first novel.

But, as he said in a post at his blog, he had misgivings. While it felt great having a deal, a book that would make it to the shelves in stores, he was bothered by the odds for making a real impression.

First of all this was a hardcover publisher only and they sold their books for $27.95, no exceptions.? I felt uncomfortable asking my mother to spend 30 bucks?on my book, nevermind complete strangers.? Then when I asked people in the industry how many copies I’d expect to sell at that price the answer was a resounding, not.many.? Maybe 500-800 for a first-timer.

What kind of a future would the book have after it disappeared from the shelves? he wondered. After talking it over with his agent, who suggested electronic publishing might be the way to build a loyal readership, Ponzo decided to give it a try. “So I went into this indie publishing thing very reluctantly.??The question was, ‘Did I want readers, or did I want to tell my writing friends I had?a traditional publishing deal?’? The fact was, I wanted readers.”

He had a Kindle version of his book created by a developer, and last June he offered it at Amazon for a fraction of the price of eBooks from the major publishing houses.

I sold 35 the first month, mostly to friends and family.? Then 48 the following month.??I felt my decision?might have been a faulty one.? Then?something happened around September, I began receiving solid reviews from big name blogs and they were posting their comments on Facebook and Twitter.? Then word of mouth?spread and?in December I’d sold?over 800 copies.? It was thrilling to see the support I’d received from so many readers and reviewers.? Finally last month alone?I sold over 1400 copies of the book and surpassed the 5000 mark?overall.

Things have only gotten better since then, he said when I contacted him recently. “I’ve given up pursuing a print publisher for my fiction.”

“I believe eBooks are the future and I doubt I would be willing to give up my eBook rights for a print contract.? The printed version has a six-month shelf life, yet eBooks are eternal.? If a publisher offered me stupid money I’d have to consider it of course, but once they have the eBook rights, they’ll be forced to sell it at $5.99 or even more and at that price my competitive edge is gone and so are my chances for mass readers.”

For Ponzo, and for many of the other writers he talks to at his blog (many of whom write guest posts about their own experience), it’s about getting the loyal readers.

“Inevitably that’s my long term approach–getting readers.? I still believe they are the biggest factor in any writers success.”

I’ve only gotten a few chapters into A Touch of Deceit. But I’m enjoying it, and look forward to reading his other stories.

The question next: what do editors and agents think about the phenomenon? As new writers gain attention and compete with midlist authors from the mainstream publishers whose eBooks are more expensive, will publishers adapt and lower their prices?

http://seeebook.com/

eBook Evolutions: Author Perspective

Apr. 21 2011 - 10:31 am | 696 views | 1 recommendation |

This is the first of a series of ongoing posts I plan to do on the changes in the publishing industry brought about by eBooks: mainly via the impact of Amazon’s Kindle and more recently Apple’s iPads.

I want to start by discussing new writers who are finding that Amazon and Apple offer them a much easier route to building loyal readers than the traditional publishing route of finding an agent and landing a deal with one of the New York publishing houses.

Gary Ponzo is a rising star in the Kindle world and beyond. I met him on Facebook when another FB friend mentioned his book A Touch of Deceit.

A little over a year ago, Ponzo, who had already published several stories in highly regarded magazines and been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, landed a book deal with a hardcover publisher for his first novel.

But, as he said in a post at his blog, he had misgivings. While it felt great having a deal, a book that would make it to the shelves in stores, he was bothered by the odds for making a real impression.

First of all this was a hardcover publisher only and they sold their books for $27.95, no exceptions.? I felt uncomfortable asking my mother to spend 30 bucks?on my book, nevermind complete strangers.? Then when I asked people in the industry how many copies I’d expect to sell at that price the answer was a resounding, not.many.? Maybe 500-800 for a first-timer.

What kind of a future would the book have after it disappeared from the shelves? he wondered. After talking it over with his agent, who suggested electronic publishing might be the way to build a loyal readership, Ponzo decided to give it a try. “So I went into this indie publishing thing very reluctantly.??The question was, ‘Did I want readers, or did I want to tell my writing friends I had?a traditional publishing deal?’? The fact was, I wanted readers.”

He had a Kindle version of his book created by a developer, and last June he offered it at Amazon for a fraction of the price of eBooks from the major publishing houses.

I sold 35 the first month, mostly to friends and family.? Then 48 the following month.??I felt my decision?might have been a faulty one.? Then?something happened around September, I began receiving solid reviews from big name blogs and they were posting their comments on Facebook and Twitter.? Then word of mouth?spread and?in December I’d sold?over 800 copies.? It was thrilling to see the support I’d received from so many readers and reviewers.? Finally last month alone?I sold over 1400 copies of the book and surpassed the 5000 mark?overall.

Things have only gotten better since then, he said when I contacted him recently. “I’ve given up pursuing a print publisher for my fiction.”

“I believe eBooks are the future and I doubt I would be willing to give up my eBook rights for a print contract.? The printed version has a six-month shelf life, yet eBooks are eternal.? If a publisher offered me stupid money I’d have to consider it of course, but once they have the eBook rights, they’ll be forced to sell it at $5.99 or even more and at that price my competitive edge is gone and so are my chances for mass readers.”

For Ponzo, and for many of the other writers he talks to at his blog (many of whom write guest posts about their own experience), it’s about getting the loyal readers.

“Inevitably that’s my long term approach–getting readers.? I still believe they are the biggest factor in any writers success.”

I’ve only gotten a few chapters into A Touch of Deceit. But I’m enjoying it, and look forward to reading his other stories.

The question next: what do editors and agents think about the phenomenon? As new writers gain attention and compete with midlist authors from the mainstream publishers whose eBooks are more expensive, will publishers adapt and lower their prices?

View the original article here

eBook Evolutions: Publishers

Apr. 26 2011 - 1:54 pm | 460 views | 0 recommendations |

Last week I discussed author Gary Ponzo and his success bypassing a hardcover deal and building a readership solely via Kindle and Amazon. As this April 21st Wall Street Journal article points out, he is not the only one going it alone; and the low price of eBooks by new writers on the block is putting pressure on the major publishing houses to lower theirs.

“They’re training their customers away from brand name authors and are instead creating visibility for self-published titles,” one senior publishing executive who asked not to be identified, says of Amazon.

As digital sales surge, publishers are casting a worried eye towards the previously scorned self-published market. Unlike five years ago, when self-published writers rarely saw their works on the same shelf as the industry’s biggest names, the low cost of digital publishing, coupled with Twitter and other social-networking tools, has enabled previously unknown writers to make a splash.

Despite this trend, publishers still have good reasons to be pleased with the growth of eBooks. (Indeed, a little too pleased, according to the Author’s Guild, but I’ll save that for a separate post.)

I recently contacted David G. Hartwell, Senior Editor at Tor Books, one of the leading science fiction and fantasy publishers, to get his take on the growth of eBooks. Tor is one of the few houses that still reads unagented material in its search for new talent. With that in mind, I asked Hartwell whether Tor was creating eBooks of their titles across the board now, or just for their bestselling authors.

He confirmed that the numbers from Kindle and iPad eBooks are there to justify making eBooks of everything they put out in the bookstores. That said, bestselling authors in the industry are making it clear they would like a higher royalty for eBook sales.

“There must be some author somewhere that is demanding higher royalties as a deal-breaker,” he said, “but not that I am aware of at present. Every single agent and author would prefer higher royalties, and we would prefer not. We would especially prefer higher sales.”

Hartwell cited the March 21st issue of Publisher’s Weekly (registration required), which lists the 2010 eBook sales for the very top sellers, in particular the listing of titles that sold more than 10,000 copies: 275 adult eBooks and 83 Children’s/Young Adult eBooks.

Noting the latter category, he said, “they report 83 titles by many fewer than 83 writers that sold more than 10,000 eBook copies for the whole industry, out of thousands published. I suspect one of that group of writers might be expressing such a strong desire [for higher royalties], because the eBook sales appear to be subtracting from their hardcover and mass market sales, and in effect earning them less money toward earn-out which may never happen, or compromising their next advance, or both, (and that is a complex problem requiring many paragraphs of explanation if it is not immediately evident).”

That is the issue very much on the minds of Author’s Guild members (full disclosure, I’m one). And it is a complex issue, indeed, as I will discuss in my next eBook post.

View the original article here

eBook Evolutions: Author Perspective

Apr. 21 2011 - 10:31 am | 484 views | 1 recommendation |

This is the first of a series of ongoing posts I plan to do on the changes in the publishing industry brought about by eBooks: mainly via the impact of Amazon’s Kindle and more recently Apple’s iPads.

I want to start by discussing new writers who are finding that Amazon and Apple offer them a much easier route to building loyal readers than the traditional publishing route of finding an agent and landing a deal with one of the New York publishing houses.

Gary Ponzo is a rising star in the Kindle world and beyond. I met him on Facebook when another FB friend mentioned his book A Touch of Deceit.

A little over a year ago, Ponzo, who had already published several stories in highly regarded magazines and been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize, landed a book deal with a hardcover publisher for his first novel.

But, as he said in a post at his blog, he had misgivings. While it felt great having a deal, a book that would make it to the shelves in stores, he was bothered by the odds for making a real impression.

First of all this was a hardcover publisher only and they sold their books for $27.95, no exceptions.? I felt uncomfortable asking my mother to spend 30 bucks?on my book, nevermind complete strangers.? Then when I asked people in the industry how many copies I’d expect to sell at that price the answer was a resounding, not.many.? Maybe 500-800 for a first-timer.

What kind of a future would the book have after it disappeared from the shelves? he wondered. After talking it over with his agent, who suggested electronic publishing might be the way to build a loyal readership, Ponzo decided to give it a try. “So I went into this indie publishing thing very reluctantly.??The question was, ‘Did I want readers, or did I want to tell my writing friends I had?a traditional publishing deal?’? The fact was, I wanted readers.”

He had a Kindle version of his book created by a developer, and last June he offered it at Amazon for a fraction of the price of eBooks from the major publishing houses.

I sold 35 the first month, mostly to friends and family.? Then 48 the following month.??I felt my decision?might have been a faulty one.? Then?something happened around September, I began receiving solid reviews from big name blogs and they were posting their comments on Facebook and Twitter.? Then word of mouth?spread and?in December I’d sold?over 800 copies.? It was thrilling to see the support I’d received from so many readers and reviewers.? Finally last month alone?I sold over 1400 copies of the book and surpassed the 5000 mark?overall.

Things have only gotten better since then, he said when I contacted him recently. “I’ve given up pursuing a print publisher for my fiction.”

“I believe eBooks are the future and I doubt I would be willing to give up my eBook rights for a print contract.? The printed version has a six-month shelf life, yet eBooks are eternal.? If a publisher offered me stupid money I’d have to consider it of course, but once they have the eBook rights, they’ll be forced to sell it at $5.99 or even more and at that price my competitive edge is gone and so are my chances for mass readers.”

For Ponzo, and for many of the other writers he talks to at his blog (many of whom write guest posts about their own experience), it’s about getting the loyal readers.

“Inevitably that’s my long term approach–getting readers.? I still believe they are the biggest factor in any writers success.”

I’ve only gotten a few chapters into A Touch of Deceit. But I’m enjoying it, and look forward to reading his other stories.

The question next: what do editors and agents think about the phenomenon? As new writers gain attention and compete with midlist authors from the mainstream publishers whose eBooks are more expensive, will publishers adapt and lower their prices?

View the original article here