Poe's Digital Daughter

Julie Smith

Hi. I’m Julie and I’m a writeaholic. Although I’ve long admitted I was powerless before my addiction, it was working for me, so who cared? But lately I’ve realized I’ve got another, possibly self-destructive problem: I’m addicted to publishing as practiced by the great houses of New York.

Why is this self-destructive, you might say, since it’s a) lucrative and b) the only game in town if you want to make an actual living? Oh, let’s see. Let me count the ways. It turns me into a passive and obedient little girl. Dare I say… a corporate drone? It restricts creativity. It makes me feel like I’m either queen for a day or the icky stuff on somebody’s shoe, and which one it is is always their call. It makes me feel powerless. It makes me feel like I’m in a strait jacket….it makes me want to scream….

Oh, help, get me to a meeting! Wait, can’t go yet. Need to say:
It’s not nearly as lucrative as it used to be. For publishers or authors. And it’s not the only game in town any more.

I feel better now.

I still need a meeting, no way I’ve kicked it, but maybe we’re onto a new 12-step program here, because realizing that last thing--that it’s not the only game in town any more–might be the new second step.

I’ve been gradually coming to that awareness, and last year decided to add yet another addiction to the first two—though maybe something a bit more constructive. Having been a wannabe writer for years before I actually was one, now I’m a wannabe publisher. Which is more constructive because I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen just as soon as we get our website up. In other words, the power’s now mine. Not that I’ve given up my other addictions. I can’t stop writing, and New York, I’ll always love you. This is simply something else. Not a replacement; an addition.

But what’s the point, besides feeling more in control? Easy: The creative challenge. This isn’t traditional publishing—it’s digital, dahlings. The only way to go! You know what you can do with digital? Almost anything. Like add video. Publish books of any length whatsoever—five pages if you like, or 5000. Offer them in sections, like episodes of TV shows. Sell them cheap. Flog individual short stories. Split 50-50 with your authors! Invent completely new art forms. Buy books that might otherwise slip through the cracks. Test out your pet theories about what people really want. And don’t want.

My agent once told me I couldn’t write about Mormons because no one in New York would buy the book. Unconvinced, I ran that by an editor. Know what she said? “Julie, why do you keep coming up with these insane ideas that push people’s buttons?”

Mormons push people’s buttons? Who knew?

So the first book we acquired was one that pushed buttons in New York—it’s an adorable chick-lit mystery, cute and funny and clever, about a writer whose day gig happens to be phone sex. Oh, no! Not that! New York was appalled.

Well, it’ll be an experiment. So far not one single person’s gone ewwwww! Au contraire, every woman I’ve mentioned it to has lit up. It’s something we’re all curious about. Something, maybe, to fall back on if publishing really does croak and our bag lady fantasies are this….far….from coming true. I’m betting people’ll love the book. And the good part is, it won’t cost much to find out—digital is about a zillion times cheaper than print.

Now then. Let’s talk about you. Should you start your own digital publishing company? I highly recommend it, but oh, boy, is it humbling. Because, see, writers act like…writers. When one author suggested GEOMETRY as the title for her literary love story, I swore never to give another publisher a hard time about a title.

That debacle ended with a six-person pow-wow that included the author, her daughter, her four-old granddaughter, and seventy-five potential titles, all of which they hated! But there was one amazing, magic moment. The author suddenly started shaking and, I swear to God, her hair stood on end. When she finally got control, she mouthed three words: The perfect title.

Then there’s the author who won’t even talk about her cover because “what if the graphic’s not my vision of the character?” Yikes. You people.

Finally, there’s me. One book we acquired is a mainstream novel without an obvious niche—leaving me with the same problems as every publisher who’s ever said “love to, but don’t know how.” Dammit, we’re going to figure out how! Want to help?
It’s a satire about a virgin named Mary who gives birth on Chrismas Eve, 2011 . You can just imagine how much fun the author had imagining this poor child’s exploitation ops. Delightful book, but not a mystery or a romance. It’ll be our Christmas offering, but aside from that, what? Any ideas? Write me at http://julieorleans@cox.net , and I’ll be grateful.

Meanwhile, be nice to your publisher! You might be one some day.

Edgar-winner Julie Smith has written so many novels it’s sick, but can’t stop herself. Her infant blog on her new publishing venture is www.e-guerrilla.blogspot.com .

Who makes money on Kindle books?

Sandra Parshall

The Amazon Kindle has broadened the market for books, and Kindle rights are making the same amount of money for publishers, and in many cases the authors, as the print editions. So why are publishers worried as they watch Amazon conquer the e-book market?

I’ve read a lot on this subject lately, but an article by Rachel Deahl in the May 11 Publishers Weekly did the best job of explaining the conundrum publishers face.

Amazon’s goal is to sell the hardware, the Kindle itself. To make it more attractive than the Kindle’s chief competition, the Sony Reader, Amazon has more than 265,000 titles available for download and is charging less for most of them than Sony’s e-books cost. In many cases, Amazon is taking a loss on the books themselves.

To understand what’s going on, you have to realize that few books are sold at the cover price, and booksellers buy books from publishers at a discount. Deahl reports in PW that Amazon pays publishers the same discounted amount, around 50% of cover price, for Kindle rights that it pays for printed books. Amazon sells printed books at just enough to make a profit on each copy. But they’re charging less for many e-book downloads than they pay for the rights.

For example, the cover price on Jim Butcher’s current bestseller, Turn Coat, is $25.95. If Amazon purchases each copy from the publisher at a 50% discount, they’re paying $12.97 for it. Amazon sells the print version for $17.13 – $4.16 more than they paid the publisher. But the Kindle download costs only $9.99 – $2.98 less than Amazon paid for it.

Right now, Amazon’s willingness to take a loss, or merely break even, on downloads in order to push Kindle sales and build its share of the e-book market is not affecting publisher profits. According to the Authors Guild, writers are also being paid – depending on how their contracts are structured, they receive either 15% of the book’s original list price or 25% of net receipts from e-book sales. According to PW, though, some agents are unhappy because publishers don’t have to spend any of their profits from e-books on manufacturing and shipping and are making a disproportionate profit on each sale, while the writer’s income remains the same.

It’s a vision of the future that’s giving publishers nightmares. What will happen when Amazon has driven its competition out of business or into a tiny and almost meaningless corner of the market? Publishers, Deahl reports, are afraid Amazon will exercise its power to demand much lower prices for digital rights that it pays for printed books. That effortless profit will vanish for publishers, unless they lower the author’s royalty on e-books. We all know how writers and agents would feel about that approach. As noted above, some grumbling is already being heard about a split of e-book profits that is perceived as favoring publishers and penalizing writers.

Amazon, with its worldwide marketing network that is visited by millions of users every day, is ideally positioned to push a product like the Kindle. According to Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, 35% of all Amazon sales of titles available in print and digital formats are Kindle editions. Just a few months ago, that figure was 10%.

Amazon has just introduced the Kindle DX, a larger version of the reader designed to display newspapers and college textbooks. Amazon will soon launch a pilot program at six universities, but this effort faces significant obstacles in the education market. The DX is big, it’s clunky, it’s black and white only, and it costs $489. Students who already have access to full-color digital references through their schools, and are accustomed to using laptops and miniature netbooks to retrieve information, may not be enamored of Amazon’s latest version of the Kindle.

One thing seems certain, though: the original Kindle for popular books is here to stay. What it means for publishers and writers is an open question. Stay tuned, and if you’re a writer, you might want to have a talk with your agent about it.