Writers and publishers generally talk about selling books, choosing a path for printing and distribution, the importance of professional editing and design, and technical matters pertaining to grammar and style. But what about the path one takes to become a writer? Certainly, we must all learn about semicolons and apostrophes, but that journey is often inspired by an earlier and more profound one. From whence comes the call to translate vivid life experiences and ideas—the sublime, the horrific, the transcendent, the transformational, the imagined—into a form that can be shared? What does it mean to live the writer’s life—as opposed to the publisher’s? Continue reading →
Selling Your Book in Discussion Forums? Don’t!
I’ve learned a great deal, shared a lot of information, and met some some clever folks on LinkedIn writers’ forums, but no matter what topic is being discussed, some clown always posts a link to his latest book. Really? Are you kidding? Though I’ve written on this topic before, here are some thoughts on forum etiquette.
Forum Etiquette: Don’t Change the Subject
Changing the topic of a discussion to suit your own commercial agenda is spam—bad form. Topic changing is also called “hijacking” the discussion. Some group moderators will (quite rightly) ban you for it.
Forum Etiquette: Sell Books to Readers
Though you might feel like you’re among sympathetic colleagues, every single participant in writers’ forum discussions either has her own books to sell or is in the process of creating one. If everyone posted links to their books, any possibility for productive discussion would die altogether. Selling books in a writers’ group is like trying to sell boxed lunches at a chefs’ convention. Ask questions. Offer answers. Support or challenge the contributions of other participants, but don’t hawk your books in discussion forums—sell books to readers, not to writers! Continue reading →
Myths and Truths About Book Editing
I just read a great article by editor David Kudler on Joel Friedlander’s (excellent) self-publishing blog, The Book Designer. If you’ve hesitated to send your book to an editor, get over it. Editors are essential to producing great books. You need one.
Read David’s article here.
The Great Book Robbery: the Fate of Palestine’s Private Libraries
I was struck by an article on PublishingPerspectives.com that described a new movie, The Great Book Robbery by Amsterdam-based Israeli director, Benny Brunner.
According to the film’s website:
70,000 Palestinian books were systematically “collected” by the newly born state of Israel during the 1948 war. The story of the “collected” books is at the heart of our film.
The drive to “collect” the books came from the management and librarians of Israel’s National Library – a leading cultural institution of the Zionist movement and the state of Israel – where all the valuable books ended up. Another forty thousand (40,000) Palestinian books were “collected” in Haifa, Jaffa, Nazareth and other places.
What if the political winds blew away the books in your private library? What roles do books, poets, and intellectuals play in political conflict? Of what use are warehoused books to either side? Is it of real strategic value to control the cultural archives of an occupied people? At what point should these books be made accessible to Palestinian libraries—or returned to the families of their owners? Certainly, the film alludes to just how powerful a book can be.
The complete film (with commentary from a political organization) can be viewed online:
P.S. I will not be hosting debate here about Middle East politics. Those with political, rather than book-centric perspectives are encouraged to watch the film and then share their opinions on the numerous forums that exist for that purpose.
Self-Publishing & Vanity Publishing: Confuse Them and Pay the Price
What is true self-publishing? What is the difference between self-publishing and “vanity publishing” or “subsidy publishing?” How do these differ from “traditional publishing?” Don’t publish until you understand these terms; that knowledge can make or break your book. Learn about publishing paths and pitfalls before stacking the odds and balance sheets against yourself.
Traditional publishers—the folks who invented the publishing game—are book investors; they purchase manuscripts and rights, pay advances and royalties, and assume risk in exchange for hoped-for profits. Their model provides a good working definition; a “publisher” is a person who takes a risk on a book.
Who’s taking the risk? Who pockets the profits? Who owns the ISBN (International Standard Book Number)? These questions shed light on potentially expensive differences between publishing strategies.
Subsidy Publishing
Also called “vanity presses,” subsidy publishers offer production services like editing and cover design that make them attractive to writers who want “one-stop shopping.” For a fee, you can have your rough manuscript turned into a book and made available through major book distribution channels. Basically, you pay someone to be your publisher (hence the term “subsidy publishing”). The bait and switch happens when your book becomes part of the “publisher’s” catalog. Subsidy publishers assign your book an ISBN number that belongs to them; they become the publisher of record which entitles them to receive an additional royalty whenever a book sells. Charging for editing, design, and production services is perfectly acceptable, but charging an additional publisher’s royalty is unethical unless they’ve taken some risk. Also, the publisher sets the book’s retail price so don’t be surprised if your book is priced higher than you’d like it to be.
Reality Checklist for Self-Publishers
One question that loops endlessly on writers’ forums is “How can I sell more books?” The question is a natural one, but for many self-publishers, it betrays a certain lack of awareness about the publishing business. Lest I sound holier than thou, let me clarify that my own book sales stats are probably no better than yours. I write, I publish, I make my books available, and I hang on to my day job. This article isn’t about magic marketing techniques or search engine secrets; it’s about making a realistic assessment of your potential to make money as an indie publisher.
Self-Publishing: Business Basics
Smart product developers—and books are products—start by identifying the needs of a customer group. They develop products specifically to meed those needs and they mitigate risk by using surveys and focus groups to estimate how many people will buy their product at what price. How many kayakers will buy a lightweight folding paddle at $500? How many will buy it at $100. What is the cost to manufacture the item in quantity? Can you sell direct or will you have to sell wholesale to a distributor who will double the price and then pass the item to a retailer who will double it again? What will it cost to advertise? Clearly, the product developer needs more than a great product. Market research and business strategy are key elements of success.
Compare this to the business plan of the average indie novelist: “I just finished a new book. How can I get readers to buy it?” Continue reading →
Book Animation – JP Morgan Chase Commercial
I don’t endorse products on TheWorldsGreatestBook.com but this JP Morgan Chase Commercial featuring a popup book animation is a work of art.
Proposed Standards for Book Typography
The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes, hyphens, initials, etc. Writers who do their own typesetting often produce mediocre results. Likewise, trade publishers sacrifice typographic aesthetics when they pack tiny type into small margins to save money on massive print runs.
With type being butchered by big and small publishers alike, how do we establish criteria for professional standards in book typography? Though economic costs and benefits are easy to assess, writers and publishers should be able to evaluate aesthetic compromises based on a set of typographic best practices. Continue reading →
Gatekeepers and Self-Publishing
Indie publishers complain that the mainstream publishing establishment acts as a “gatekeeper.” Many readers rely on big publishing houses to filter out low quality books—even though trade publishers regularly print celebrity crap with impunity. Indie publishers often see themselves as victims who are locked out of well-deserved opportunities by a cadre of hypocritical profiteers, but the truth is not so cut and dry. Trade publishers cannot be blamed for adopting whatever standards support their business objectives; their raison d’être is not to give you a chance at fame. Moreover, the fact remains that despite notable exceptions, these folks do a fine job selecting manuscripts and producing good books.
But the nature of gatekeeping is changing. Not so long ago, major network news was considered to be the trusted gatekeeper for the “accurate picture” of what was happening in the world—even though their financial survival depended on advertisers, and their access to “high level information” depended on complicity. Major record labels fed the latest “cool music” to their networks of “popular format” radio stations, and everyone danced. In the same way, the NY Times Book review (which only reviews Big Six-published books) and Big Publishers themselves once enjoyed exclusive status as de facto guardians of the public’s literary tastes. Those days are far from over, but new media has changed the nature of gatekeepers and consumers alike.
EBook Publishing in a World of Options
Differences between eBook media formats are blurring. Due to a convergence of technologies around HTML5, books can be published through eReader devices, as mobile applications, or on the web. This article examines the pros and cons of each eBook format.
EBooks are based on HTML, the same technological foundation that powers the worldwide web. As the web has grown, so have eBook technologies—at least in potential. The ePub3 standard, released in October 2011 and continuing to develop under the auspices of the International Digital Publishing Foundation (IDPF), describes an eBook as a “website in a book.” Growing concurrently with the Internet are mobile operating systems and app stores (like Apple’s iPhone OS and Google’s Android), and eReader devices (like Barnes and Noble’s Nook and Amazon’s Kindle). If popular mobile devices can render eBook content, web content or mobile applications, which of these media is best suited to the needs of publishers?
“Traditional” EBooks and EReaders
For years, eBooks (in mostly ePub2 format) stood apart from the web and mobile apps in a closed universe; the reader found a book in an online bookstore and downloaded it to an eReader device. Dedicated eReader devices were once exclusively designed to facilitate finding, purchasing and reading books, but the differences between eReaders and tablet computers are rapidly disappearing. Recent offerings come with color screens, wireless web browsers, and mobile operating systems. These eReader devices are no longer walled off from alternate eBook distribution formats like apps and the web.
Continue reading →