Is this old news or new news? What ramifications does it have for us as up and coming authors? Do you think it will affect the self-publication model Amazon has going now?
Oh, and sorry I don't know how to make a nice, neat linky. Anyone willing to give a brief tutorial?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/technology/amazon-rewrites-the-rules-of-book-publishing.html?_r=1
I bet Dean Wesley Smith will have a sarcastic post in a day or two about this...
Pretty links:
start with [ url = ] Remove the spaces and put the actual url after the = sign. Put the text you want to be seen after the closing bracket. Close with [ / url ], again, removing the extra spaces.
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Ha ha! Just listen to those whiners. "Now we can't exploit writers any more! It ain't fair!"
Personally, I wouldn't trust Amazon, over the long term, to not "exploit" writers either. While I obviously can't speak for DWS, I'm sure his advice would be that no one will look after your best interests like yourself. Amazon signing up established authors and personalities sounds pretty much like what a lot of people complained about before.
Amazon opens up the model somewhat and the publishing paradigm is changing, but I personally suspect that the new model will resemble the old in many ways. More freedom for authors, but I don't think it will get any easier to "make it" and those who do will have worked just as hard as they might have under the old model (I also believe that the way forward for myself is a combination of legacy/traditional publishing and self-publishing).
Nick
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I also believe that the way forward for myself is a combination of legacy/traditional publishing and self-publishing.
I agree.
I don't mind it as long as the field remains level for self-publishers.
I do think all of this upheaval isn't over and I do think that lower-cost publishers that specialize in e-books and don't take so much of a cut is inevitable. It's already happening, if you care to do a little googling. Smashwords doesn't publish, but does the distribution, there are a bunch of conversion folks out there, but that part of the industry hasn't yet coalesced.
The part of the article that interested me the most was about Kiana Davenport, whose book deal with Penguin ended up on ice after she self-published an e-book collection of short stories. That sort of thing is happening a lot nowadays. Writers are putting up their back titles as fast as they can. The article doesn't say this, but I suspect Davenport might have signed a contract that said she wasn't allowed to publish anything except through Penguin. If that's the case (and I'm not saying it is), it's a cautionary tale for being careful what you sign. She should have been regular reader of The Business Rusch.
I don't see why a major book retailer shouldn't publish its own books---though the position of Amazon-dot-com in the market, and the dollar amounts involved, do make for interesting times ahead in the book industry. (Barnes & Noble just pulled a bunch of DC graphic novels from their retail stores because DC signed an e-deal with somebody else.)
(By the way, I think Penguin might have trouble proving in court that e-publishing Kiana Davenport's collection would damage sales of a print edition of something else...according to the update at the bottom, they haven't yet filed suit...)
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By the way, I think Penguin might have trouble proving in court that e-publishing Kiana Davenport's collection would damage sales of a print edition of something else...according to the update at the bottom, they haven't yet filed suit...)
Eh. To be really safe, she probably should have talked to her agent about it and they probably should have let the publisher know of her plans. Still, I think Penguin is overreacting a bit.
Edited to add:
I just finished reading what Davenport had to say about this fiasco on her blog. I find it highly suspicious that Penguin, after discovering she self-published on Amazon, requested she guarantee in writing she would not self-publish any e-book of her backlog of works. It sounds like this particular clause wasn't in the original contract. This is definitely an interesting case worth following.
[This message has been edited by redux (edited October 19, 2011).]
So, no one is making any money from them.
However, that didn't stop P-P from putting them up initially and offering 0 royalties. So far, her agent has only managed to get them removed.
We're not about to go doing it on our own tho.
Axe
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Still, I think Penguin is overreacting a bit.
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So, no one is making any money from them.However, that didn't stop P-P from putting them up initially and offering 0 royalties. So far, her agent has only managed to get them removed.
This sort of reaction by publishers is so self defeating. The war last year between Amazon and another publisher had this going for it - many of the authors were on the publisher's side. This looks like it is the publishers turning on the authors somewhat. If that gains traction, then they have lost the war. Tell me it isn't so.
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This sort of reaction by publishers is so self defeating. The war last year between Amazon and another publisher had this going for it - many of the authors were on the publisher's side. This looks like it is the publishers turning on the authors somewhat. If that gains traction, then they have lost the war. Tell me it isn't so.
Do you get David Farland's Daily Kick? According to him, the publishers are turning on the authors. We all hope it's not as bad as he paints it, but I've seen enough stories lately, especially around e-pubbing rights, to think there's something to it.
Her publisher didn't turn on her, but after the 0 royalties didn't fly they pressed for the same royalty rate for e-book that they had for paper. Figuring she would only gain by their hard work. (making a .mobi file - once.)
Not a chance.
Axe
A NY publishing house could bring sales boost, national name recognition, a big marketing push (or they could just publish a book and let it lie, remaindering it off the shelves after a month or two like happens to a ton of books.) I'm on the fence but mostly epubbing my own work these days. Thinking about querying NY editors on my epub'd work, though. What's the worst that can happen? They say no they're not interested. And the best is they offer me a million dollars on my existing or future books. Hmm... 
But a small press these days, unless in a specialty area (non-fiction for the most part) doesn't offer any benefits. I can do my own covers and/or have my awesome friend who does covers do them. I can create the epub and mobi files for amazon and Barnes and Noble and Smashwords. I can do a close edit/hire someone/ask friends to help me identify mistakes. While it'd be nice to have someone else do that work, it's really not a lot of time. And marketing? I can be writing my next book, which is the best marketing of all...
As for Amazon doing it's own publishing, it's going to be interesting, but there will be a lot of people who don't want to limit to one ebook reading platform. The Kobo/Diesel/Apple iBooks markets are HUGE and GLOBAL (and there turn out to be tons of English speakers all over the world.) Amazon has deep reach and will do a lot of interesting, innovative, and slightly sketchy things I think, but I'm still publishing on all platforms because I don't want to limit my market.
(You can see my stuff on my site if you'd like - Karen T. Smith website)
I see what you're saying and think for a lot of people that is probably true. Like you said yourself though, the best marketing for your writing IS your writing, if you had someone else dealing with all the other stuff that frees up your time you could be writign even more to promote your backlist and add new titles bringing you revenue. Of course, if you have a friend that is excellent at coverart that simplifies having to shop around for a cover.
I'm glad to see you're not completely writing off PoD. They are not to important right now, but just a few years ago Self-Publishing and ebooks and what have you were in the same boat and considered by most as a waste of time. I have a feeling in the distant future PoD is going to be pretty big. I don't think the major publishers are going to last, but there is alw2ays going to be a demand for print books. Nowhere near as big as what used to be, but there will be a market for it still, and I think PoD will become very useful in supplying to that market.
Speaking of Amazon publishing and not wanting to limit your market. . . How many people have a PS3 and an XBOX 360 and a Wii, or some combination of the three? Does anyone think e-readers will get the same way as they keep dropping in price and the companies that run their distribution network "signs" certain authors? Will it end up with people buying a Kindle for 59 dollars because that is the only read Stephen King deals with, and then going back out and buying a Nook so they can read some Grisham?
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2011/10/amazon-launches-sffantasy-imprint-47north/
So it's not just a distributor for us, it's a market...
The thing is people can not expect anything better from Amazon then any other publisher. Publishers are looking out for their bottom line. Only you can look out for your bottom line.