Best-Selling Author Refuses $500k; Self-Publishes Instead 290
Last week we discussed an IT book author's adventures in trying to self-publish. Now, an anonymous reader points out an article examining another perspective:
"Barry Eisler, a NY Times best-selling author of various thriller novels, has just turned down a $500,000 book contract in order to self-publish his latest work. In a conversation with self-publishing aficionado Joe Konrath, Eisler talks about why this makes sense and how the publishing industry is responding in all the wrong ways to the rise of ebooks. He also explains the math by which it makes a lot more sense to retain 70% of your earnings on ebooks priced cheaply, rather than 14.9% on expensive books put out by publishers."
big diff: editors are actually important (Score:5, Insightful)
editors, working for publishers, are behind a lot of the great literary works of the united states.
philip k dick's "a scanner darkly" comes to mind. there are many others.
publishers also deal with libel and defamation lawsuits for you.
they also set up junkets so you can market your book.
im not saying theres no point to self publish, but there are many differences between music industry and book industry.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Not to mention the fact (brought in to evidence here) that they take a bloody substantial cut of the sales.
50% of the retail price goes to the bookseller.
If you want your book in the window or on the table in a large chain store, then the publisher pays extra for that.
The publisher must take all his costs, including the author's royalty out of the remainder. That includes production costs, warehousing, distribution; as well as all your staff who do the editing, marketing, and sales. Most publishers have a team of salesmen who schlep around book stores/chain asking if sellers will take their books.
A book is on
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They were discussing self-publishing e-books. So they don't have to worry about storing copies that don't sell.
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Which illustrates perfectly why ebooks change everything.
Amazon (and other ebook sellers) is only 30% not 50%. Bookstores will need to adapt or they will lose even more business. There is no publishing risk because there is no cost per title.
I think ebooks will drive self publishing and that will drive an evolution in the book business model. You will see editing and PR shops spring up to provide services to independent authors. Some will provide services for upfront fee some for cut of royalties, some
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I'll give you a little insight into the publishing industry ... the editor/author relationship is becoming a thing in the past. Publishers these days tend to want to publish "the best" instead of growing a writer. I'm not saying these types of relationships no longer exist, rather they are no longer the norm. These days, publishers are looking for books ready to print.
That said, marketing dollars for a non published writer is pretty much non-existent. Marketing dollars are generally reserved for the Ste
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Publishers also give advances, which lets authors concentrate on writing their book rather than working at a different job while they try to finish the book in their spare time.
The whole conversation/interview/article seems to entirely ignore the new author perspective and focus solely on the perspective of authors that have an existing fan base, connections to one or more editors they're comfortable with and enough of a bank account to focus on writing full-time.
But the similarities to the music industry a
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Actually they did spend time discussing new authors self publishing. Specifically when they were talking about the "yea, buts" from the industry types who say "Sure Konath can do it but.." Then they go on to point out that there are people are who have no history with legacy publishing who are doing well, and the more of those there are the less clout the "yea, but" argument has.
As an aside to that, they also discuss how long it took for the NY Times to add e-books to the bestseller list, and even then onl
Re:big diff: editors are actually important (Score:5, Interesting)
Lies Incorporated springs to mind. Another PKD novel.
First few chapters are relatively sane. As are the last few chapters. In the middle is pure PKD weirdness, only even more directionless and bizarre than usual (IMHO). Then I noticed that the weirdness and the last few sane chapters start with the same paragraph.
So then I finally read the introduction, that says the book was originally published after a brutal pruning by the editor. Later, when PKD got a bit more famous, he managed to get the middle stuffed back in for future print runs.
The editor was definitely right that time.
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I am inclined to agree with the strong analogies brought up by the sibling commenters, however.
I could easily read them with music-industry-specific words plugged in (will, with a similarly weird analogue to the Phillip K. Dick example; there's got to be something.)
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Bloomen heck, the one time I really wanted to stamp my name onto a post I log in on the different browser and I AC post to /. ... stupid editors! ;)
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With regards to marketing junkets, this blog does cover that. Both authors state that they are convinced that the #1 best thing you can do market your books is to write another one. Each one catches a few new eyes and prompts new readers to go back and see what else you've written. The time spent in Book stores signing the occasional copy is time that could be much better spent writing. Not only is it more productive with regards to output, but with regards to marketing as well -- or so they believe.
Soun
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editors, working for publishers, are behind a lot of the great literary works of the united states.
philip k dick's "a scanner darkly" comes to mind. there are many others.
publishers also deal with libel and defamation lawsuits for you.
they also set up junkets so you can market your book.
im not saying theres no point to self publish, but there are many differences between music industry and book industry.
It's certainly true that publishing companies server useful purposes... But so do recording companies. Different useful purposes, but useful none the less.
In publishing you've got an editor to trim things down, streamline, bounce ideas off of you, and basically get your book into proper shape. In the recording industry you've got various mixing engineers who do similar work with the music. Both industries have lawyers to protect their clients. Both industries do a lot of PR work for their clients.
There
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editors, working for publishers, are behind a lot of the great literary works of the united states.
True, but publishers have been giving authors less and less editorial support as the continue to cut costs. The theory is that the slush pile is so deep that, if they dig enough, they can find a manuscript that doesn't need significant editing. Or they wait until a new author has some proven success before investing in editorial assistance to take him or her to the next level.
publishers also deal with libel and defamation lawsuits for you.
Possibly true. Most contracts I've seen say that the writer is ultimately responsible. Even so, in fiction (which is what Barry E
Re:big diff: editors are actually important (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:big diff: editors are actually important (Score:4, Interesting)
Crowdsource it. I'm a huge fan of podiobooks.com -- alot of the books presented there (for free mind you) often end up to proper book deals and the final version is often changed significantly as a result of feedback from the listener community.
My understanding is that the Nathan Lowell's and Scott Siglers of the world are doing fairly well for themselves by giving it away for free. It's not unlike the Freemium business model that companies like Evernote use: Free gets as many ears and eyeballs as possible and easy marketing. A certain percentage will recommend it to friends, since it was free and, hopefully, good. That gets you even more ears/eyeballs. A certain percentage of the overall will be such big fans they'll want to buy proper print copies or kindle versions or whatever and, even though you're giving it away for free, you end up selling more copies than you might have otherwise.
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Re:big diff: editors are actually important (Score:5, Informative)
Because editors cost money, even when you're friends with a few. ( And I'd never ask a friend to edit my work for free as anything other than a mutual crit. )
I self-published an E-book. Admittedly, it could be better edited and I really wish I had the cash to do it. However because I couldn't afford an external editor, I went through 10 editing passes myself ( it's not easy spotting your own mistakes ) and through more than a dozen critics who tore every sentence to pieces.
The result? It's presently ranking 4.5 stars on Barnes and Noble and has a sales ranking up with the professional. The biggest criticism I get ? Making it free ( Voluntary shareware actually ).
So while I'd still say a GOOD editor is a valuable thing in the publishing process, I'd also say that you don't need to have a paid editor to do everything you need to make a great story.
Anyway, you're welcome to judge it for yourself if you like - And feel free to criticize me. I always welcome genuine criticism.
Title: Turing Evolved ( Science Fiction ) - Currently distributed for free.
Smashwords Link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34627 [smashwords.com]
GrpA
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Re:big diff: editors are actually important (Score:4, Interesting)
Because editors cost money, even when you're friends with a few. ( And I'd never ask a friend to edit my work for free as anything other than a mutual crit. )
You could always offer them a cut. If it takes you 3 months to write, and it takes them 1 week to edit, offer them about a 12th of the overall profit (which means you're about equal in terms of reward-per-hour). If thee book's a runaway success you can make them rich, if not then they get a trickle of pocket money for their trouble.
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If you're an author, have you considered bartering?
Let's put it this way. Say you have three author friends. Pass your book to each of them to proofread, and in turn proofread each of theirs. It's win-win, it costs nobody money, and you get the value of a different perspective. I often am in the situation where I am too blinded by my own bias and can use the outside perspective on something I've created.
Re:big diff: editors are actually important (Score:4, Interesting)
If you're an author, have you considered bartering?
Let's put it this way. Say you have three author friends. Pass your book to each of them to proofread, and in turn proofread each of theirs. It's win-win, it costs nobody money, and you get the value of a different perspective. I often am in the situation where I am too blinded by my own bias and can use the outside perspective on something I've created.
Not a new idea. I know this is not an exhaustive list by any means:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_circle [wikipedia.org]
I'm surprised that none of the ebook publisher sites have automated this process, or that I've never heard of them automating it.
The other side is I really like Nathan Lowell's work, and I would even pay a modest fee to proofread / edit his work before its released. The way he ended "owners share" was pretty much a big WTF and probably could have benefited from some review. Which brings up the topic that beyond simple grammatical correction, I'm not sure crowdsourcing will give useful results unless you're going for super formulaic pulp. I'd probably have to sign a NDA, ok whatever. For anything other than your Very First Book if you can't find one or two fans on the entire freaking internet, including friends, relatives, fellow authors, and coworkers, then, yes indeed, you have very big problems. BTW slightly on topic, Nathan Lowell had a cool interview on the linux link tech show podcast a couple months ago, I don't recall exactly but I think similar issues were discussed.
Arguing that paid editors exist therefore lone wolf authors absolutely must pay them, is probably going to work about as well as arguing paid software testers exist, therefore lone wolf programmers absolutely must find a way to pay them.
Re:big diff: editors are actually important (Score:4, Interesting)
Gharr... stupid AC login (or lack thereof).
We're an independent publishing/writing team here, everything still goes through multiple edits, proofings and all the same stuff, it's essential to edit (doing your own editing is like testing your own software - it does not work!).
It costs anything between $1000 and $5000 to get a started after you've paid for editing/coverart/PoD-setup but it's a small upfront cost to pay compared to what you lose when a publisher just sits on your work.
The tide has begun to swing around - with no shortage support and cooperative marketing groups/forums on the net now the publishers really are going to have to fight to get a hold of the next group of big writers. The thing is, if the publisher is already trying to make you a sweet deal, then it's a deal you don't actually need.
Paul - http://elitadaniels.com/ [elitadaniels.com]
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I edit my own work.
(There was additional unnecessary elaboration in this comment, but I edited it out.)
I poofread my own materail.
Wow (Score:2)
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Give them enough power and it may be their turn to screw the readers too
And when he... (Score:2, Interesting)
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While reading on an eInk device may not affect you any differently than reading paper (which I'm sure is subjective), the screens are still _vastly_ inferior to reading paper due to the horrible contrast ratio. My Kindle 3 is 'good enough', but nowhere near where I want it to be.
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Once you have very black blacks the only way you can improve contrast is whiter whites. The whiter the white the more light is reflects. As an experiment print something on ultra bright paper. The good stuff. Tuck it into your paper back novel and next time you are on the beach, next to the pool, or in the park try reading both side by side.
You don't want excessive contrast in a book. Digital or otherwise. Textbooks are often printed with higher contrast because rarely is someone reading by the pool w
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LCD tablets don't really count. Get a kindle.
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Well, I don't have stock in Amazon, but I do have a Kindle -- and it's fantastic for reading e-books. I never imagined that I'd ever say anything like this but, it's a superior experience to reading a trade paperback.
Amazon's Kindle is just one of many great readers; any newer e-ink device is going to be a satisfying buy. I wouldn't recommend any other kind of display. Just an example, my wife has a Sony PRS-350, which she adores.
We were both big readers, but now we find that we read more than we ever did
Publisher's attitude is for you to bend over..... (Score:5, Interesting)
1. Add another 200 pages
2. Create an online website
3. Create an online test bank
4. They would forward $5,000 of my expected earnings in order to perform the years worth of work.
5. Hand over complete copyright to them
6. If they decided that any changes were required, I would have to pay for the changes regardless if I agreed with them or not.
I told the VP what I thought in the most appropriate terms and stated that I would give the book away rather than have anything to do their company. So since 2000, the book Introduction to Data Communications [sait.ab.ca] has been free online to anyone who wishes to use it. I used to make pocket change from the Google adds and for the last couple of years, instead of Google adds, I advertise the programs that I teach for at the post-secondary institute.
Re:Publisher's attitude is for you to bend over... (Score:5, Informative)
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All looks good except for #2.
Damn, and I was interested, too. :P
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MLB? So you ARE in league (NPI) with them!
*hides under desk*
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[OFFTOPIC]
One of your licensing requirements "That you will respect the rights of others in their sexual orientation." Reminded me of a conversation with my mother many solar cycles ago.
She opposes gay marriage; when I point it out for her that she's forcing her beliefs on others she says that she isn't forcing them to believe what she wants.
But you are still forbidding them to marry? Of course not, they can marry whatever woman they want. She replies... I've tried this many times. She seriously thinks she
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Because we all love it when we are prohibited from copying a book because we don't like illegal immigration.
Not to mention that copyright violation is something handled in a court. When you say that I can copy it if I try to be a better person (etc.), what you are really saying is that if I am in a court accused of copyright violation, and I prove to the judge and jury that I have tried to be a better person (etc.) I am free. Can you see why I might not want to have to prove such a thing in a court, under
Re:Publisher's attitude is for you to bend over... (Score:4, Funny)
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whoosh
Re:whoosh (Score:2)
There Is No Whoosh in copyright discussions anymore.
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Shang Tsung, is that you?
Re:bunch of conditions (Score:2)
Been there, Agreed to that. You can check my web branding if you like.
So I shall honorably enter your text into my collection of source materials for web-justice projects.
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I never thought I'd see the day where something so overwhelmingly positive could be construed as an attack. The licensing agreement in question isn't some kind of strict legal agreement. Honestly, it reads much more like the Ten Commandments... but in a non-religious way that isn't offensive to people who don't believe in God (which is a fairly impressive accomplishment). That you would be offended by it is astonishing. Though, with the context of the Ten Commandments in mind, what the author is essenti
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Again: saying "you have a license to use this if you stop whining about your life", what this really means is "if you are sued in court, you may be forced to pay huge amounts of damages if you cannot prove to a judge and jury that you have stopped whining about your life". This is an utterly stupid thing to want decided by a judge and jury, but by putting it in the license, that's exactly what you're saying.
It's also seriously intrusive. Do we really want to have to pass a stream of personality tests in o
Re:Motivation to revise it (Score:2)
Honest question, which I feel is key to this area of copyleft etc -
Why is there no motivation for updating and revising it? Your original goal can't have been To Get Rich. What is your official opinion of people doing derivative works? I would advise you think in terms of the Creative Commons spread of licenses.
I have marked it for my notes, at the minimum to read, but also for alternative web experiments.
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Fair answer, and a perfect lead in to my next theme - the Web desperately needs source materials released by the original authors. Despite your amusing license, if you are willing to do that, it will be an important step in the war against copyright tyranny.
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Leave the Token Ring bit in. It's part of history
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Plus it might prevent some silly bugger from reinventing something similar.
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I use to have a pdf of the book but the BW charges from people downloading started to cost me money every monthjust to give it away.
You could pop a torrent up to take the strain off your host. It's always nice to have one more legitimate, non-pirated torrent out in the wild.
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Yup. Perfect legitimate use of bittorrent.
Hell I would keep it seeded in perpetuity.
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I use to have a pdf of the book but the BW charges from people downloading started to cost me money every monthjust to give it away
Maybe LaTeX? gzip it and it'll be smaller than the HTML and anyone who would be able to grok what's in there would be able to generate his own pdf. *Puss-in-Boots eyes*
Was wondering when this would happen (Score:5, Insightful)
I should have figured it'd be a tech-savvy writer.
When I realized that Neil Gaiman was getting perhaps $2 out of that $20 new book, I thought, 'hell, I wish I could just buy any book he writes directly from him - I'd pay him $6, he gets triple times as much and I get it for 1/3 price'.
Kudos to him, I hope he's successful against the publisher blacklisting he's going to suffer....
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Out of the $20, there's approximatively $6-8 for the library (amazon being the worst there, they want $10 iirc), $3-4 for printing, $2-4 for shipping and the distributor if there is one (and in NG's case, I'm sure there is). So that's $4-9 left, i.e. $2-7 for the publisher (and closer to $2 than to $7). The publisher is definitively not ripping him off.
OG.
FYI (Score:3)
librairie,libraire --> bookshop, bookseller
bibliotheque --> library
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I even happen to know that. Sleep, I need more of.
OG.
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Point taken, but FWIW slashdot an edit-function it needs.
At least until a single followup comment is posted, posts should be editable; welcome to 1999 slashdot.
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Looks like the days of freelance editors is about to arrive too!
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I'm sure this guy is going to hire an editor, I wouldn't worry about that. If nothing else, the editing process might go better due to lack of interference from the publisher. I'm sure the guy can sign on with an independent agent that will work on booking him book signings (although, what will there be to sign?) and other appearances for PR. He's an established author, so it won't be difficult to book him.
I will say this, the current book model is BS and doesn't work for anyone, including publishers. I
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Ditto. Especially saying that I remove the cover as soon as I get it so I don't tear it while thrashing (reading) the book.
And judging by all the mistakes I see in the current books, they must be pieces of trash before the editing, or the editors are living in some alternate universe where wrong is right.
DISCLAIMER: This comment was not edited by an editor. Read at your discretion.
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Does the author deserve more than 15%? Most definately. Does that mean that 85% of the price is profiteering? Absolutely not.
Aren't these mutually exclusive. If an author deserves more than 15% but doesn't because the publisher is keeping 85% then yes that is profiteering.
Nobody is saying publishers should do work for free but prior to ebooks the lack of an alternative allowed them the ability to profiteer off of others.
That is starting to change. No reason a publisher can't survive with a smaller split. If they can't then freelance editors and PR companies will kill them off.
Publishing houses aren't Record labels (Score:2, Insightful)
Editors are a necessary part of any form of writing that isn't purely artistic (poetry, etc). Creating a piece of writing is a two-step process: first, you come up with the idea that you want to convey, but then you need to convey it in a manner in which people can understand. Even the best writers can be great at the former, but less so on the latter. It's the editor's job to think of the reader, and to put himself in the shoes of the public. Ironically, the same eccentricities that some great writers have
The model I hope to see in the music industry (Score:2)
Maybe the infrastructure for downloading music for free is too entrenched, but I'm glad to see this starting to happen; not just for my savings but for the artists. The publishing industry might have legitimate costs, but when I read that Konrath [sic] article I was horrified by the crappy cut the authors were getting. I thought only unsaavy or unestablished bands were getting exploited like that.
They're doing it. Try Jamendo. (Score:2)
See Jamendo [jamendo.com]. Almost 300,000 tracks, under Creative Commons licensing, and it's your choice whether to donate.
Fun Interview, If a Bit Long (Score:4, Interesting)
Hmmmm... Slashdot appears to have eaten my original comment. I hope my comment was yummy and filling, Slashdot.
Anyway... I read the interview earlier today and it's a pretty good read, if a bit long at somewhere over 13,000 words. Konrath is preaching his usual gospel, but it was nice to get Eisler's perspectives on the publishing industry and its inner workings. He drops a few entertaining links as well; one chronicles his struggles with a French publisher who bought the rights to one of his books. They went to the hassle of translating the book, only to put a cover on it that depicted a chartreuse garage door with a security camera. I have no idea what sort of through process led to that decision, but I'd kind of like to know.
I'm actually pleased as punch to see Barry Eisler doing so well, and doubly pleased that he's shifting to self-publishing and being so vocal about it. I met him back in 2003 shortly after his first book, Rain Fall, came out. I was working at a bookstore a few miles from his house, and he'd drop through to sign copies and urge us to sell more. I got the impression he was just a genuinely nice guy, and he even humored me when I asked for advice in getting an agent.
That said, I'm more than a bit jealous, too. He released a short story on Kindle this year, and it's apparently on track to make $30,000, while I'm struggling to sell a dozen copies of my sci-fi novel [amazon.com] a month. He's a really good guy, though, and I wish him the absolute best as he dives head first into the self-publishing world.
Re:Struggling to sell on Amazon (Score:2)
With the decline and fall of the outlets for actual paper books, comes exactly the dilemma you are in. I am actually not interested in how some previously established writer decides to feel all bold and self publish. I am more interesed in cases like yours - how do I as a user decide whether to download such books? Rather than my typical 4 paragraph posts, since people have told me I kept getting whooshed on this thread, I'll leave it as the rhetorical but honest question.
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You can download the first chapter of almost every ebook for free to decide if you like it. You can even keep it indefinitely. Try ripping the first chapter out of a paperback at your local book store and walking out with it. There is your difference.
Re:First Chapter (Score:2)
The first chapter is rarely enough for me to determine if I like something. I much prefer scanning a book at a store because I am good at getting the overall flow of a text by flipping through it. The good stuff in most books starts about chapter 3.
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Then take a risk.
I read first chapter and look at amazon reviews. 90% of the time if it is a bad book I know it in the first chapter. Hell sometimes I know it in the first dozen pages. If not then put your money where your mouth is and take a risk. Most new authors have books for $0.99 to $2.99. Hardly a significant investment. If 3/4ths of them don't pan out well who cares. The 1/4th is what I am interested in. Have a couple authors I wish they would release a new book because I would gladly buy it
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How do I as a user decide whether to download such books?
I think you asked a wonderful question. Right now, I believe the best answer is to go here [wikipedia.org] but that answer is not very useful.
Another answer is to go here [kickstarter.com] but that isn't terribly useful either.
Another resource is here [theassayer.org].
I agree with you, though. Being able to answer the question "How to I find talented, yet undiscovered authors so I can read their work?" is a question that begs to be answered.
Just trading one publisher for another... (Score:2)
Apple is now the publisher du jour. The old publishing industry being taken over by the new. Can't say we didn't tell them... The old publishers wanted to keep their paradigm... and now they will go out of business. But I think this will go beyond apple. I don't like apple, never have, never will but I have always recommend their products for those that are looking for a more consumer experience rather than a do for yourself one...
I think in the end the writers that do well will get together and form a
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Apple sells a negligble amount of books.
Hell more kindle books are sold on the ipad than ibooks on the ipad.
Think about it....
Why would anyone who has a brain buy ibooks over kindle version EVEN IF they have an ipad.
Have an iPad. Buy kindle version - works on ipad, android (phones and future tablets), kindle, blackberry, iphone, PC & Mac.
Have an iPad. Buy ibooks version - works on ipad.
ebook pricing too high (Score:5, Insightful)
This is one thing that puts me off buying ebooks. At the moment they are overpriced.
Another problem is that they come with DRM, and running a free operating system I cannot read them and have to resort to other methods to obtain a free copy. I would much rather purchase a reasonably priced ebook with no DRM so that some money goes to the author.
We are left with the same untenable situation with ebooks as there was with the music industry, that is that you get a better ebook for free which is flexible and can be read on any ereader than you get by purchasing for £12 from an official ebook retailer.
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I used to read a lot of fiction. I started when a paperback was $1.95. Got to know the SF/Fantasy section fairly well, and could quickly scan to see what was new. and had an idea what was coming, Then they began raising prices in $0.50 increments every 6 to 12 months. When the average paperback exceeded $5, I quit. And my familiarity faded. Now the selections available are almost all strange to me.
Digital might persuade me to read fiction again. But only if the prices are sane and they lay off the
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I would much rather purchase a reasonably priced ebook with no DRM so that some money goes to the author.
The self-publishing eBook market is fairly defined these days. Amazon is the one that offers 70% royalties for sales that go through its own site. I believe they also offer POD which provides 70% of MSRP for each softcover or hardcover sale an author generates. To sign up for this, authors need to shell out a few hundred dollars (which is pretty reasonable).
On the other hand, another "sales" method that I think would really work for self-published eBooks is the "Give them away for free and accept donat
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And they're overpriced because major publishing houses are still involved and they're trying to use this as a way to offset their losses on hard and soft bound books. Every ebook bought is a hardbound book not bought, which means more inventory on shelves and eventual losses. It's basically throwing a monkey wrench into an already broken, antiquated system. This will be fixed overtime (publishers will have to change their infrastructure or become irrelevant), but it's going to be a bit of an uphill battl
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But I'll tell you why I am not inclined towards E-books. I like to read in the tub.
Derp [lulu.com]. Also there are more out there. Pick one, or print it yourself.
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No, my point was, you can order an ebook to buy a paper edition. There are book printers online that give you a paperback/hardcover book.
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I like to read in the tub.
Re:Never heard of him. (Score:5, Informative)
But I'll tell you why I am not inclined towards E-books. I like to read in the tub.
But e-book readers are even better than paper books for reading in the tub.
I found that my kindle fits perfectly into a quart sized freezer baggy (which are a bit thicker than sandwich baggies), and I can still operate all of the controls. Perfect for reading in the tub, and unlike a paper book, there's no worries about the book getting soggy if you dip it into the water - you can dunk the entire baggy protected Kindle into the water and pick it up and continue reading.
The baggy also works well when you want to take it to the beach and protect it from sand... or when you're eating doritos and don't want it to get all cheesy.
And since I already had these baggies in the kitchen, total cost for this protection was a few cents.
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It looks like you are using unauthorized 3rd party modifications with your Kindle. This is against the EULA, expect actions from Amazon.
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Heh, I remember visiting a friend who had a pool... we'd take his Gameboy (The old school ones the size of a VHS tape), wrap it in 2 or 3 zip-lock bags, and take turns playing it underwater. Because frankly, why the hell not?
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I'm glad it works for you, but me, I just couldn't gamble that much on closing the bag.
The problem with being "connected" and "well informed" is you catch the early adopter prices, remember them, and think they still apply way down the long tail. I still have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that a "big HDTV" costs as much as a kia car, because that is what they used to cost when the tech was new. Now they cost about one monthly kia car payment instead. A big LCD HDTV is currently cheaper than a very well insulated multi-pane window, although I can't figure out how that happens.
In a s
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But I'll tell you why I am not inclined towards E-books. I like to read in the tub.
Luckily for you, according to all the advertising for all the ebooks I've ever seen, ebooks are for thin women to read at the beach while wearing a modest one-piece suit. Not in a tub or whatever. Seriously, check the ads for all the majors, its a mandatory photo for all ebook promotional literature.
Bathing vs showering might be an interesting /. poll, more interesting than some have been. I have not taken a bath since the 80s. Take regular daily showers, sure, but a bath?
Especially since I know how the photos would break the internet.
Can't possibly be worse than go
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But I'll tell you why I am not inclined towards E-books. I like to read in the tub.
Put the reader in a ziploc bag and use your preferred method for sealing it. Won't be completely waterproof unless you seal the bag with an electric bag sealer (and then you have to rip it open to get the reader back; on the other hand, sealing it with air inside will make sure it floats), but it'll stand casual splashing and probably even short immersion, at least for the time necessary for you to go "OH FUCK" and fish it out. :P
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Dean Koontz.... literary genius....
ROFL.
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You might have been whooshed by a troll. Watch out for that spread between "critically acclaimed" and "commercially popular". He found a market for Scouts With Issues - and makes money at it. I'd call that a genius at literary branding.
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You might have been whooshed by a troll. Watch out for that spread between "critically acclaimed" and "commercially popular".
Actually I think this is how most critics are irrelevant and failing in their primary function. They are not relevant to the majority of the market, mostly too busy making themselves seem clever or arty.
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Okay, I have been wondering this for a while, and /. might just be the best place to ask this and get intelligent answers.
Does Stephen King call his penis "The King"?
Yes, and he paints a clown face on the end.
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It's within Six Degrees of Separation. It's valid. Worship me.