There’s always a lot of talk, especially among unpublished authors, about switching genres. Many of you are writing in multiple genres and want to continue doing so after you are published. Which inspired this question . . .
Is switching genres with each book a bad thing?
I currently have a Fantasy book finished (final re-editing, working on query perfection, etc.), but I started writing a chick-lit in the first half of the year. I also have some good ideas penned down for a sci-fi and a crime thriller. So, based on your post, should I be focusing on just one genre or continue with my whole "branch out and conquer the world" process? I am not working on all of these things at the same time, but still keeping the ideas for the future.
To some degree, yes, I think it’s a bad thing. Remember, once you decide to get published you are building a writing career and not just writing anymore, which means your goal is to find an audience. While you might find it fun to switch things up from book to book, most readers are fairly loyal to what they read. In other words, few fantasy readers will happily jump to chick lit with enthusiasm. Let’s face it, most readers read within a few specific genres. If your fantasy readers love your first book and look for your second, they might be very disappointed to discover how different it is. Most important, it might turn them off from picking up your third.
Most publishers want you publishing at least 9 months apart, so if you can have two different names and publish each name 9 months apart (writing a book every 4 to 5 months), then you can easily write in two genres. If, however, it takes you 9 months to write a book, you might want to stick with one genre, at least until you’re established.
As for writing prior to publication, I think it’s great to write in various genres and explore your strengths.
Jessica
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Author Speed Date
The idea of speed dating is that you get 10 minutes to sit down with a prospective date and get to know them. In that spirit, we present Author Speed Date. A quick 10 minutes for you to get to know some of our clients. Today we'd like you to meet Elizabeth Lynn Casey.
BookEnds Author Speed Date
About Me
About My Writing
BookEnds Author Speed Date
Name (the one you’re published under): Elizabeth Lynn Casey
Speed date Bio (one or two lines): Elizabeth Lynn Casey is the author of the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series with Berkley Prime Crime.
Web Link: www.elizabethlynncasey.com
Next Book, pub date: Deadly Notions, April 2011
Agent: Jessica Faust
About Me
Real Name or Pseudonym: Actually, Elizabeth Lynn Casey is a pseudonym for mystery-writing me. I also write under Laura Bradford (real name) for romance.
Currently Reading: Summer Hideaway by Susan Wiggs
Next on Your Reading List: While I have a sky-high pile next to my bed, I’m eyeballing the calendar for Emily Giffin’s next release date (LOVE her).
Facebook or Twitter (include account name): Both. I have a fan page on Facebook (Elizabeth Lynn Casey) and I tweet under ElizabethLCasey.
Three authors living or dead you would want to have dinner with: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mary Higgins Clark, Emily Giffin
Jet-setter or armchair traveler: Jet-setter (although my “jet-setting” hasn’t taken me out of the country yet—one day).
Glass ½ full or ½ empty: ½ full. It’s either that or never leave my bed.
Tea or Coffee: Um, can I request a third choice? Hot chocolate, perhaps?
Live to write or Write to live: Live to write and, as a result, I write to live.
About My Writing
When (time of day) I write: Morning.
Writing soundtrack: These days? Silence.
Character Inspirations: The voices in my head decide.
Plot Inspirations: The quick little newsbites on the radio.
Setting Inspirations: Places I’ve been, even if briefly.
Plotter (carefully plot books) or Pantser (write from the seat of my pants): Primarily a Pantser.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Working with an Editor
I am currently working on my first erotic novel (first novel of any kind). I have a question regarding an editor. Once I have finished it is it truly necessary to find an editor? If so, should I be specific in finding someone who deals in erotic editing? If so, any suggestions as to a good editor? I live in Australia, but editor anywhere is no problem.
It’s never “required” to get an editor, unless you feel that your work needs a good edit. There are a number of ways you can have your book edited. You can hire someone, or work with a writing partner or a critique group. If you do choose to hire an editor, I would suggest you find someone knowledgeable in your genre.
I’m not going to give specific editor recommendations, but if any of my readers have any, please feel free to promote them in the comments.
Jessica
It’s never “required” to get an editor, unless you feel that your work needs a good edit. There are a number of ways you can have your book edited. You can hire someone, or work with a writing partner or a critique group. If you do choose to hire an editor, I would suggest you find someone knowledgeable in your genre.
I’m not going to give specific editor recommendations, but if any of my readers have any, please feel free to promote them in the comments.
Jessica
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Workshop Wednesday
Well we're no Query Shark, but we're going to take a stab at this query workshop thing anyway. So far we've received over 200 entries. We are choosing at random so if you're still interested in participating please read the guidelines in our original post.
Dear Agent,
I toiled endlessly to formulate my "form query letter" before realizing neither my manuscript, nor me as an author, fit any sort of mold. So, it is only fitting that I submit my query in a format as unique as the writing itself.
Do you know what I absolutely hate about this opening? I hate that you say "form query letter" in quotes, as if you are so much better than the other authors who are simply writing to some sort of formula. That kind of thing always sits wrong with me. I've said over and over that there is no formula for queries, there are only guidelines. I think you'll also see through the course of this workshop that the best queries are those with their own voice and can be completely different from one another.
Another red flag about this opening statement is the phrase "neither my manuscript, nor me as an author, fit any sort of mold." What that says to me is that you haven't done your research. You've made the assumption that you are so unique that there's nothing else out there like your book, which, frankly, is rarely the case. And if it is the case, then my first question to you is who is your audience? Where are they going to find your book? If it's shelved in the bookstore, which shelf is it going to be on? If an online retailer wants to sell readers on your book, what list are they going to put it on when they email readers with, "Since you bought this you might also be interested in . . ."
Don't try to pitch me on your book by telling me it is so great or so different it doesn't fit anywhere. That leads me to believe there is nowhere for me to sell it. It also makes me think you just don't know your market.
My name is Kate Windsor. I've been a vampire for a hundred years. And like countless others before me, I have fallen for my prey. Little did I know that he was infinitely more rare than even I, and posed more of a danger to me than either of us could have ever imagined.
The irony of this first line is that it doesn't at all match your opening paragraph. In other words, it really doesn't sound like something that doesn't fit any sort of mold. It sounds like a fairly typical vampire book. Keep in mind that's not necessarily a bad thing, unless you open your query by implying that your book is revolutionary.
I thought that my biggest problem was deciding whether or not to Turn him. I was wrong.
To complicate matters further, my powers - inevitable but unwanted - decide to show up at the worst time. They're volatile and unpredictable. But if I don't get a handle on them, they could kill me. Not something an immortal typically worries about.
It takes a lot to unnerve a vampire. I've survived tragedy, witnessed the horrific, seen the impossible. But nothing could've prepared me for Lucas Wilde. Nothing.
You hint at a lot in these opening paragraphs, but I have a feeling the really fun and different things about your book are what's missing. I don't mind telling the story from the character's point of view in a query. I think this can work, as long as I am getting an idea of what the real hook of your query is.
My name is Lucas Wilde. A simple guy from Wyoming. I came to Hidden Pines to escape the misery of a recent family tragedy. And I found my literal light in the darkness: Kate. She was sexy, smart, beautiful. Oh, and did I forget to mention, a vampire?
But not just any vampire. Her father - ahem, Maker - is, for all intents and purposes, the king of every vampire in the country. He is none too pleased about me. Not that I blame him. Parents are always trying to get their kids to stop playing with their food.
But you know what? That's not even the HALF of it.
Because not only is the world I believed in nothing like I thought it was . . . neither am I.
I think there are some things here, some elements, that might get requests for you. I would be on the fence. Kate's version doesn't sound that different to me, but I sort of like Lucas's voice. I'm intrigued by some of the more humorous things he says, especially about children playing with their food. That made me laugh. The problem is that I don't know anything about your story or the hook of your story. What about this vampire romance makes it different from the dozens out there on the shelves? What makes it stand out?
The overall format of this query could work if you punch it up a little bit more. My gut feeling, though, is that it's an interesting idea, but it's just not there yet. I would probably pass.
The other thing to keep in mind is that you set me up to be really wowed and you didn't follow through. If you're going to open your query by telling me it's so different from anything else out there that it doesn't fit into a mold, then you better deliver and send me a pitch that sounds mind-blowingly different. This doesn't. It sounds like a typical vampire love story.
Complete at 125,000 words, LUST is a dark and romantic fantasy with series potential. It is my debut novel. The manuscript is available upon request.
This works for me and, believe it or not, I'm not at all scared off by the word count, which I bet surprises a lot of my readers.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to speaking with you.
Jessica
Dear Agent,
I toiled endlessly to formulate my "form query letter" before realizing neither my manuscript, nor me as an author, fit any sort of mold. So, it is only fitting that I submit my query in a format as unique as the writing itself.
Do you know what I absolutely hate about this opening? I hate that you say "form query letter" in quotes, as if you are so much better than the other authors who are simply writing to some sort of formula. That kind of thing always sits wrong with me. I've said over and over that there is no formula for queries, there are only guidelines. I think you'll also see through the course of this workshop that the best queries are those with their own voice and can be completely different from one another.
Another red flag about this opening statement is the phrase "neither my manuscript, nor me as an author, fit any sort of mold." What that says to me is that you haven't done your research. You've made the assumption that you are so unique that there's nothing else out there like your book, which, frankly, is rarely the case. And if it is the case, then my first question to you is who is your audience? Where are they going to find your book? If it's shelved in the bookstore, which shelf is it going to be on? If an online retailer wants to sell readers on your book, what list are they going to put it on when they email readers with, "Since you bought this you might also be interested in . . ."
Don't try to pitch me on your book by telling me it is so great or so different it doesn't fit anywhere. That leads me to believe there is nowhere for me to sell it. It also makes me think you just don't know your market.
KATE
My name is Kate Windsor. I've been a vampire for a hundred years. And like countless others before me, I have fallen for my prey. Little did I know that he was infinitely more rare than even I, and posed more of a danger to me than either of us could have ever imagined.
The irony of this first line is that it doesn't at all match your opening paragraph. In other words, it really doesn't sound like something that doesn't fit any sort of mold. It sounds like a fairly typical vampire book. Keep in mind that's not necessarily a bad thing, unless you open your query by implying that your book is revolutionary.
I thought that my biggest problem was deciding whether or not to Turn him. I was wrong.
To complicate matters further, my powers - inevitable but unwanted - decide to show up at the worst time. They're volatile and unpredictable. But if I don't get a handle on them, they could kill me. Not something an immortal typically worries about.
It takes a lot to unnerve a vampire. I've survived tragedy, witnessed the horrific, seen the impossible. But nothing could've prepared me for Lucas Wilde. Nothing.
You hint at a lot in these opening paragraphs, but I have a feeling the really fun and different things about your book are what's missing. I don't mind telling the story from the character's point of view in a query. I think this can work, as long as I am getting an idea of what the real hook of your query is.
LUCAS
My name is Lucas Wilde. A simple guy from Wyoming. I came to Hidden Pines to escape the misery of a recent family tragedy. And I found my literal light in the darkness: Kate. She was sexy, smart, beautiful. Oh, and did I forget to mention, a vampire?
But not just any vampire. Her father - ahem, Maker - is, for all intents and purposes, the king of every vampire in the country. He is none too pleased about me. Not that I blame him. Parents are always trying to get their kids to stop playing with their food.
But you know what? That's not even the HALF of it.
Because not only is the world I believed in nothing like I thought it was . . . neither am I.
I think there are some things here, some elements, that might get requests for you. I would be on the fence. Kate's version doesn't sound that different to me, but I sort of like Lucas's voice. I'm intrigued by some of the more humorous things he says, especially about children playing with their food. That made me laugh. The problem is that I don't know anything about your story or the hook of your story. What about this vampire romance makes it different from the dozens out there on the shelves? What makes it stand out?
The overall format of this query could work if you punch it up a little bit more. My gut feeling, though, is that it's an interesting idea, but it's just not there yet. I would probably pass.
The other thing to keep in mind is that you set me up to be really wowed and you didn't follow through. If you're going to open your query by telling me it's so different from anything else out there that it doesn't fit into a mold, then you better deliver and send me a pitch that sounds mind-blowingly different. This doesn't. It sounds like a typical vampire love story.
Complete at 125,000 words, LUST is a dark and romantic fantasy with series potential. It is my debut novel. The manuscript is available upon request.
This works for me and, believe it or not, I'm not at all scared off by the word count, which I bet surprises a lot of my readers.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to speaking with you.
Jessica
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Forget the query go round - if you want to be published - start with indie
H.P. Mallory, D.B. Henson, and now (I can finally officially announce) Michael J. Sullivan prove that if you want to get traditionally published - start with self publishing.
The "old way" of traditional publisher meant hundreds of rejections from agents, months shopping it around to presses, and then a production schedule of 12 - 24 months. All in all, from day one of the query until the book is released, could reasonably take 3 - 4 years.
For years conventional wisdom said, "Don't self-publish because if you do, no traditional publisher will touch you." Well, that's NOT the way things are now. Not only are publishers interested in successful self-publishers - they are putting them on the fast track to release.
I just completed a full interview with D.B. Henson - and I'll make this my next post but her story dovetails so nicely into this one that I want to point out a few things.
D.B. Henson
Published a single book Deed to Death in April 2010 at $0.99 and it hit the top 100 in just a few short weeks after publishing. It's been in the top 10 for 257 days. On the day after Christmas she got a call from Noah Lukeman (if you don't know who he is -- tune in to the next post devoted to D.B. exclusively - but he is "the agent"). He had read her book, loved it and asked if she wanted to go traditional. She signed with him January 1 and after a quick bidding war Simon and Schuster has green lighted her release for July 2011. To have a book pushed through in 6-7 months is unheard of.
H.P. Mallory
Published 3-books on Kindle: Toil & Trouble, How to Kill a Warlock, and Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble. She hit the #1 for Fantasy and was in the top 100 for a few weeks with Fire Burn. H.P. was approached by an agent in mid-December and after a bidding war Random House signed her to a multiple book six-figure deal for books that are not even written yet! They have already slated her for the Spring 2012 production time frame so another fast-track when you consider the books aren't even started.
Michael J. Sullivan (that wildly handsome and talented writer - kiss, kiss, honey)
Decided in Mid-October to "test the waters" about traditional publishing - his agent had 5 houses interested and Orbit (an imprint of Hachette Book Group) came out the winner. He also has a multiple book six-figure deal. While we "shook hands" in November we still don't have contracts to sign - but that hasn't stopped Orbit from fast-tracking the release of this series. story editing is done, covers should be ready next week, and copy editing is underway. Rather than releasing the books in a traditional 12 month or 18 month cycle they will be released in consecutive months - November 2011, December 2011, January 2012 - and we've not even put pen to paper.
There's a lot of people saying that if you are indie you should stay indie...and if all you care about is money, that is probably true. But each of these authors have weighed the pluses and minuses and decided that its worth seeing if the traditional publishers can make them household names. We'll be keeping our eyes on all of these people as their books are released and a year or so later we'll have a pretty good idea if they made wise decisions or not.
In any case, while they were self-published they each made tens of thousands of dollars, found tons of fans, and caught the eye of the traditional publishers without having to go through the humiliation of hundreds of rejections and years of waiting.
Food for thought.
The "old way" of traditional publisher meant hundreds of rejections from agents, months shopping it around to presses, and then a production schedule of 12 - 24 months. All in all, from day one of the query until the book is released, could reasonably take 3 - 4 years.
For years conventional wisdom said, "Don't self-publish because if you do, no traditional publisher will touch you." Well, that's NOT the way things are now. Not only are publishers interested in successful self-publishers - they are putting them on the fast track to release.
I just completed a full interview with D.B. Henson - and I'll make this my next post but her story dovetails so nicely into this one that I want to point out a few things.
D.B. Henson
Published a single book Deed to Death in April 2010 at $0.99 and it hit the top 100 in just a few short weeks after publishing. It's been in the top 10 for 257 days. On the day after Christmas she got a call from Noah Lukeman (if you don't know who he is -- tune in to the next post devoted to D.B. exclusively - but he is "the agent"). He had read her book, loved it and asked if she wanted to go traditional. She signed with him January 1 and after a quick bidding war Simon and Schuster has green lighted her release for July 2011. To have a book pushed through in 6-7 months is unheard of.
H.P. Mallory
Published 3-books on Kindle: Toil & Trouble, How to Kill a Warlock, and Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble. She hit the #1 for Fantasy and was in the top 100 for a few weeks with Fire Burn. H.P. was approached by an agent in mid-December and after a bidding war Random House signed her to a multiple book six-figure deal for books that are not even written yet! They have already slated her for the Spring 2012 production time frame so another fast-track when you consider the books aren't even started.
Michael J. Sullivan (that wildly handsome and talented writer - kiss, kiss, honey)
Decided in Mid-October to "test the waters" about traditional publishing - his agent had 5 houses interested and Orbit (an imprint of Hachette Book Group) came out the winner. He also has a multiple book six-figure deal. While we "shook hands" in November we still don't have contracts to sign - but that hasn't stopped Orbit from fast-tracking the release of this series. story editing is done, covers should be ready next week, and copy editing is underway. Rather than releasing the books in a traditional 12 month or 18 month cycle they will be released in consecutive months - November 2011, December 2011, January 2012 - and we've not even put pen to paper.
There's a lot of people saying that if you are indie you should stay indie...and if all you care about is money, that is probably true. But each of these authors have weighed the pluses and minuses and decided that its worth seeing if the traditional publishers can make them household names. We'll be keeping our eyes on all of these people as their books are released and a year or so later we'll have a pretty good idea if they made wise decisions or not.
In any case, while they were self-published they each made tens of thousands of dollars, found tons of fans, and caught the eye of the traditional publishers without having to go through the humiliation of hundreds of rejections and years of waiting.
Food for thought.
An Agent's Edits
I have a question. I submitted my full ms. to an agent approx 3 months ago, who wrote back that she loved it and would like to show it to a colleague of hers. I told her yes, as I was yet to sign with any other agents. Since this time she has spent significant time editing the ms. and we have spoken on the phone a couple of times. About a month into the process I asked her if she was planning to sign me as her client, and she replied that she would like to represent my ms. but she wanted to get the ms. to a point we were both happy with before signing anything.
Is this usual? I can't see that I have anything to lose, since I haven't had any other offers of representation. From her viewpoint though, it seems like an odd move. Technically I could sign with another agent and she will have wasted a lot of time and effort on her edits (I have no intention of doing so, but still). Can you advise the "normal" process of signing a client (if there is such thing as normal)?
I feel like I need to say this a thousand times over. There is no such thing as “normal” in this business. Each agent is an individual and works very differently. Is it possible that an agent will work with an author before signing. Absolutely. The agent will only offer representation on what she feels she can sell, and if she doesn’t feel she can sell this she won’t offer. That being said, she feels there’s real potential here and is seeing if, by working together, it’s something the two of you can make into a salable product.
Yes, technically you could sign with another agent, and I suspect every agent out there has a story of the author who thanked them profusely for their feedback or edits because it helped secure another agent. So unbelievably frustrating when this happens. Which is why we always ask that if an agent helps you out you consider giving her another look.
A lot of this business is based on faith and trust. We don’t always require you to sign something, we just hope and have faith that the work you’re doing will make you realize that she’s the right agent for you.
Jessica
Is this usual? I can't see that I have anything to lose, since I haven't had any other offers of representation. From her viewpoint though, it seems like an odd move. Technically I could sign with another agent and she will have wasted a lot of time and effort on her edits (I have no intention of doing so, but still). Can you advise the "normal" process of signing a client (if there is such thing as normal)?
I feel like I need to say this a thousand times over. There is no such thing as “normal” in this business. Each agent is an individual and works very differently. Is it possible that an agent will work with an author before signing. Absolutely. The agent will only offer representation on what she feels she can sell, and if she doesn’t feel she can sell this she won’t offer. That being said, she feels there’s real potential here and is seeing if, by working together, it’s something the two of you can make into a salable product.
Yes, technically you could sign with another agent, and I suspect every agent out there has a story of the author who thanked them profusely for their feedback or edits because it helped secure another agent. So unbelievably frustrating when this happens. Which is why we always ask that if an agent helps you out you consider giving her another look.
A lot of this business is based on faith and trust. We don’t always require you to sign something, we just hope and have faith that the work you’re doing will make you realize that she’s the right agent for you.
Jessica
2010 ebook sales are in.
The AAP (Association of American Publishers) has posted the December sales numbers and not surprising ebooks rose dramatically ($49.5M vs $11.25B). When looking at year over year numbers similar % growth can be seen ($441.3M vs $169.5M). What is surprising is that ebooks still only amount to less than 9% of total book sales. (I personally was expecting to see double digits this reporting period of 10% or 11%.
The frustrating thing is the AAP is really not a good indication of overall ebook sales. For instance it does not show all the books sold by indies and small presses - a number which I think is significant. Since most indies and small presses sell many more digital books then print books it would (IMO) have a dramatic shift on the actual %'s.
I really wish Amazon and B&N would stop being so secretive with their numbers as this would tell us so much more than reporting publisher data and would give us some much more accurate data. Oh well...I'm not holding my breath for that one.
The source of the data comes from here. If anyone knows of other sources of ebook penetration I'd love to get a link or two.
Monday, February 21, 2011
A Reminder to Always Follow Up
When it comes to finding an agent, I think that authors erroneously feel that they have no power, that they need to capitulate to the agent in order to find one. Most dangerous, though, is how authors will feel this even after an offer of representation comes in, a time when you truly do have all the power and need to use every bit of it to make an important career decision.
I’ve often written about the importance of interviewing as many agents as possible when an offer comes in. You never know how an agent will work for you until you’ve had the chance to talk with a number of agents and get a real feel for how you’ll work together. Which is why, when an offer comes in, you should give any agents who interest you the chance to offer.
On December 17, after we had closed for the year, I received an email from an author who wanted to tell me that she had received an offer of representation from another agent. I had not yet responded to her query, and yet she got in touch anyway. It turns out her query had been lost in my crash, but after looking at it I knew it was a book I would have requested. I immediately asked for the manuscript, read, loved, and offered. On December 22, at 10:30 p.m., I signed my last client for 2010.
I think all too often authors feel that an offer should only be shopped to those agents who have requested material. Let me tell you, it should be shopped to anyone who is on your “A” list, unless of course it’s an agent who has already read and rejected the material.
Jessica
I’ve often written about the importance of interviewing as many agents as possible when an offer comes in. You never know how an agent will work for you until you’ve had the chance to talk with a number of agents and get a real feel for how you’ll work together. Which is why, when an offer comes in, you should give any agents who interest you the chance to offer.
On December 17, after we had closed for the year, I received an email from an author who wanted to tell me that she had received an offer of representation from another agent. I had not yet responded to her query, and yet she got in touch anyway. It turns out her query had been lost in my crash, but after looking at it I knew it was a book I would have requested. I immediately asked for the manuscript, read, loved, and offered. On December 22, at 10:30 p.m., I signed my last client for 2010.
I think all too often authors feel that an offer should only be shopped to those agents who have requested material. Let me tell you, it should be shopped to anyone who is on your “A” list, unless of course it’s an agent who has already read and rejected the material.
Jessica
Saturday, February 19, 2011
More Stats...February Amazon 100
I recently analyzed the top 50 Amazon kindle list (mainly because I didn't have the time to do 100) I spent the last few days looking at the whole 100 and here is what I found...
NOTE: An easier to read version of the data can be found here.
As before, let's first back out shorts, magazines, newspapers, and a few non-fiction which reduces the 100 to 75.
I mentioned in my last post (well a comment actually, that no "small press" made the list - when expanding to 100 there was 1 that crept on - the people who are publishing My Sister's Keeper for the sake of this analysis I'm going to still treat this book as an indie so we only have 2 categories - those published by major NY houses and those that are "independent".
- 29/75 - Indie (38.7%)
- 46/75 - Traditional (61.3%)
This is almost identical breakdown as the Top 50 (39.5% to 60.5%). Something to note - It was in December that I saw the FIRST indies breaking into the Top 100 list. Now it is possible that some were doing it before then but it's only been recently that we've seen sustainable inroads by indies.
I'm sorry to say that extending the list did not add any indie in the above $2.99 price point. I'm starting to see a number of indies increases their prices though, so I anticipate by the time I do this again in April I'll see at least one.
- 7/29 of the indies priced at $2.99 (24.1%)
- 22/29 of the indies priced at $1.00 or less (75.9%)
Again this mirrors the bottom 50 (something I did not expect btw - I thought I would see a higher % of $0.99 in the 51 - 100 ranking sneaking in).
I was happy to see Killer (which was #20 a few days ago) jump to #13 which makes it the highest ranked non-$0.99 book.
A few surprises in this bunch of data...
- Two traditionally published authors have moved to self-publishing their books: The Color of Heaven by Julianne MacLean ($0.99) and Second Son of a Duke by Gwen Hayes ($0.99) Since these two authors already have established audiences, my hope is that they will raise their prices and make some real money from their self-published efforts.
- A total of 3 traditional publishers are offering books at the basement price of $0.99. #1 - Alone (Bantam), #74 - The Summer Son (AmazonEncore), #81 Spontaneous (Harlequin). I believe Bantam's move was to make Alone hit the NYT digital bestseller list. This is the first time I've seen AmazonEncore take an ebook down that low (but they may have) and the Harlequin doesn't surprise me that much as they offer low priced books fairly frequently as the Romance reading audience is pretty voracious so some "loss leaders" is a great strategy for that market segment.
Of the 75 fiction titles the breakdown by price is as follows:
- 25/75 (33%) Less than $1
- 7/75 (9%) $1 - $3
- 9/75 (13%) $3 - $5
- 18/75 (24%) $5 - $10
- 16/75 (21%) Over $10
Breaking them into Low ($2.99 or less), Medium ($3.99 - $8.52), High ($9.99 and above)
- Low - 32/75 = 43%
- Med - 16/75 = 21%
- High - 27 /75 = $36%
Negotiating ebook rights
With regards to signing with a traditional publisher...I can't tell you how many times I see the following post (or one similar).
"Sure, I'll sell you the print rights for that advance. But I'm keeping the digital rights."
This drives me CRAZY! There is no publisher in existence that is going to let ANYONE sign just for print rights and let them keep the ebook rights. It's insane to even think so. Now there may be some small publishers that are willing to do so - and on the surface of things I would say - great go for it - but to be honest any small pub who is that out of touch with publishing to allow such a thing is probably not a good horse to be jumping on in the first place.
Recently after one of these poses, I responded that ebook rights are not negotiable the original poster came back with "anything is negotiable". While I guess that is "technically true" - that you can "ask" for anything in a contract, the fact remains you'll get no traction on this. Period.
The industry standard is 25% of net for ebook royalties - this is substantially higher than most other royalties (6% - 15%) but it does leave an unequal distribution between author and publisher. Let's look at kindle as an example as it is the top selling platform for ebooks.
When priced between $2.99 and $9.99 Amazon will take 30% and the remaining 70% is "net". Since the author gets 25% of that they are actually receiving 17.5% of sales price. That's not bad, but considering the publisher is getting 52.5% for a product that has only incremental costs over the print book they've already produced this seems unfair. This is further complicated by the fact that, at present, a traditional publisher's ebook has no greater advantage (from a distribution standpoint) from the same book produced as an independent. In other words, the concept of coop space does not currently exist in online purchasing - a fact I suspect will change in the not so distant future.
Personally, I think this standard will start to crumble. Mainly because more and more authors will walk away even when the advance is large, because they can make more money getting the whole 70% instead of 17.5%. Publishers will realize that they HAVE to change the %'s in order to have any authors willing to sign. So in the future I think the roles will reverse with 30% going to the publisher and 70% staying with the author.
If I were negotiating a contract, which I am, I would work to get the language to say that the % needs to be evaluated every year and adjusted to the industry standard. That seems at least "possible." This solution is not ideal by any stretch of the imagination. It will result in the author still receiving (IMHO) a smaller percentage then they should, but for now I think its the best that can be hoped for.
I'm interested in what others have seen in their contracts or what they think might be a reasonable alternative.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Author Speed Date
The idea of speed dating is that you get 10 minutes to sit down with a prospective date and get to know them. In that spirit, we present Author Speed Date. A quick 10 minutes for you to get to know some of our clients. Today we'd like you to meet Kate Douglas.
BookEnds Author Speed Date
About Me
About My Writing
BookEnds Author Speed Date
Name (the one you’re published under): Kate Douglas
Speed date Bio (one or two lines): It took me twenty years to get published in NY, so I’m having a ball making up for lost time.
Web Link: www.katedouglas.com
Next Book, pub date:
April 2011—StarFire/DemonSlayers mass market series
July 2011—Wolf Tales 12/final book in the series/Aphrodisia trade paperback
Agent: Jessica Faust
About Me
Real Name or Pseudonym: Kate Douglas
Currently Reading: 8 category romances I’m judging for the RITAs (Romance Writers of America published author contest)
Next on Your Reading List: Master of Smoke by Angela Knight
Facebook or Twitter (include account name):
www.facebook.com/katedouglas.authorpage
www.twitter.com/wolftales
Three authors living or dead you would want to have dinner with: Only three? Jayne Ann Krentz, Stella Cameron, Susan Andersen
Jet-setter or armchair traveler: Motorhome camper
Glass ½ full or ½ empty: ALWAYS half full
Tea or Coffee: LOTS of coffee
Live to write or Write to live: At the moment both, but always live to write
About My Writing
When (time of day) I write: All, with occasional breaks—start early, end late, almost every day
Writing soundtrack: None, though sometimes Ancient Visions (native American album)
Character Inspirations: People in general
Plot Inspirations: Life and fantasy
Setting Inspirations: Places we’ve traveled or want to see
Plotter (carefully plot books) or Pantser (write from the seat of my pants): Pantser all the way. I feel trapped by pre-set plots
The Changing Face of the Amazon Top 50
I watch sales trends a lot. It’s important to keep your pulse on the marketplace so you can best judge trends and reach the largest marketshare possible. One of the things I’ve noticed is a HUGE change in the Top Amazon sellers.
Sometime ago there was only one list, and not surprisingly it was dominated by free books. Amazon corrected this to make two lists, one for free one for paid. Once this happened, the list was dominated by traditional publishers most selling their books in the $7.99 - $9.99 range with a few at the $11.99 and $12.99 price points.
I’m going to regularly analyze and post the results of the top 50, which by their very nature have to be snapshots (but they don’t change all that much day to day). To see who was on the list as of this analysis see the screenshot below. This is a bit hard to read (even when blown up) so a better representation can be found here.
Sometime ago there was only one list, and not surprisingly it was dominated by free books. Amazon corrected this to make two lists, one for free one for paid. Once this happened, the list was dominated by traditional publishers most selling their books in the $7.99 - $9.99 range with a few at the $11.99 and $12.99 price points.
I’m going to regularly analyze and post the results of the top 50, which by their very nature have to be snapshots (but they don’t change all that much day to day). To see who was on the list as of this analysis see the screenshot below. This is a bit hard to read (even when blown up) so a better representation can be found here.
First I’m going to remove any “non book” entries. This includes games, magazines, shorts, and newspapers. This leaves us with 43 titles – heavily dominated by fiction
- 2 of 43 Non-fiction (4.7%)
- 41 of 43 Fiction (95.3%)
This is not surprising considering this is for an ebook but is definitely not indicative of book sales overall where non-fiction generally outperforms on a 3:2 basis.
Next let’s look at traditional verses independents. This list was virtually devoid of any offering except those that had the backing of bookstore sales for their print editions. This is certainly no longer the case.
- 17 of 43 Independents (39.5%)
- 26 of 43 Traditional (60.5%)
That’s quite an accomplishment that shows that you don’t need a traditional publishers to sell a ton of books. How much is a ton? Well anyone on this list is selling tens of thousands of books. At current sales levels a ranking of 30 – 35 is selling about 1,000 books a day. This is based off of Victorine Lieskie’s sales numbers. I suspect the scale is somewhat logarithmic which means that people ranked in the top 10 are doing substantially more than 3 times those at 30.
Unfortunately, indies are getting these sales at a cost – mainly price. Of the indies listed:
- 13 of the 17 (76.4%) price their books at $1.00 or less
- 4 priced at $2.99 (3 of which are sequels to a $0.99 book
I'd like to use Stephen Carpenter at #20 as an example. I’m going to guess he sells about 1500 books a day and his per book profit is $3,139.50 which is about $94,185 a month. Even if I’m wrong and say worse case he sells 1,000 books a day (he has to be doing more than that because he is ranked higher than Vicki who was selling 26,000 books a month) that comes out to $2,093 a day which is $62,790 a month.
For those selling for $0.99 they only make $0.35 so for those selling 10,000 a month (probably about right at the 50 ranking) they make $3,500 and at 30,000 a month they make $10,500. Good money to be sure but it doesn’t take a genius to see how much more successful Stephen Carpenter is and again I give him a tip of the hat for bucking the bargain basement mentality.
One problem with the $0.99 bestsellers is it’s difficult to know who is reading the books and who is merely buying them like pebbles on the beach. Without Question Amazda and John Locke are gaining true readers as evidenced by multiple books on this list. Having multiple books available is good for sales for both Independents and Traditional Published Authors and there are many with multiple books on the list:
- Amanda Hocking: 5 books
- John Locke: 5 books
- Suzanne Collins: 3 books
- James Patterson: 3 books
- Stieg Larson : 3 books
- Susan Wiggs: 2 books
Using price to gain readers is a long tradition with independent authors but starting at the end of 2010 we saw traditional publishers dropping prices as well. The #1 best seller is a traditionally published book at $0.99 (I suspect in order to make the new NYT ebook bestseller list) prior to December 2010 I did not see much in the way of prices below $6.99 for traditionally published books I now see the following:
- Only 1 out of 26 at $0.99 (3.8%)
- 7 out of 26 in the “bargain category” of $3 - $5 (26.9%)
- 13 out of 26 in the “traditional price” of $5.50 - $9.99 (50%)
- 5 out of 26 at the “high end” above $10 (19.2%)
CONCLUSIONS
What does all this mean? Well first off it proves that you don’t have to be traditionally published to move a lot of books. Secondly, New York publishers are making in roads into lower priced books (though most seem to think that $5 is the floor).
My prediction is that the top 100 will become more and more inundated with low cost books which may mean some danger signals for those that are going indie and trying to sell at a decent price. I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon doesn’t split the list again into three categories: free, bargain ($3 or less), and standard. Personally, I think this would be a good thing for both buyers and sellers as I think there is a core group of readers who focus on the low price reads and having a list exclusively for this segment would mean they can find a larger number of them more readily. It will also help NY as their books won’t have to compete with the people who are pricing their books in a race for the bottom.
I’ll keep you posted as more results are available.
NOTE: I mistakenly thought Stephen Carpenter's book sold at $3.99 it is a $2.99 book so I adjusted this post.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The Power of Social Networking
There’s always a lot of talk about Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and other social networking sites. We discuss whether you need to join and how to best use them to build an audience for your books. Well, I have a really cool story about the power of social networking.
BookEnds technically closed December 17 for the holidays and for the year, but that doesn’t mean I fully disappear. As I said to one of my authors, I’m really just in hiding. Just to make sure I’m not going to be too overwhelmed when I return, I still check email and answer those I can answer. And, as a frequent social networker, I also tend to stay active on both my Twitter and Facebook accounts.
On December 23, just before I started a day of cooking, I logged on to Facebook and saw this adorable status by Elizabeth Lynn Casey: “I think I'm finally losing it. I just found myself wondering what the ladies of Sweet Briar are doing for this year's Christmas...” My first thought was that’s a good status. That’s something readers will love.
Apparently Elizabeth’s editor saw the same status, and her first thought was that we should all be thinking about those ladies of Sweet Briar. Within hours of posting the status, Elizabeth’s editor called with an offer for a Christmas book about those ladies of Sweet Briar. So between grating potatoes for latkes and melting chocolate for cookies I was interrupting Elizabeth’s Christmas shopping to negotiate with one of the few editors who was actually still in the office.
And who says nothing happens over the holidays?
Jessica
BookEnds technically closed December 17 for the holidays and for the year, but that doesn’t mean I fully disappear. As I said to one of my authors, I’m really just in hiding. Just to make sure I’m not going to be too overwhelmed when I return, I still check email and answer those I can answer. And, as a frequent social networker, I also tend to stay active on both my Twitter and Facebook accounts.
On December 23, just before I started a day of cooking, I logged on to Facebook and saw this adorable status by Elizabeth Lynn Casey: “I think I'm finally losing it. I just found myself wondering what the ladies of Sweet Briar are doing for this year's Christmas...” My first thought was that’s a good status. That’s something readers will love.
Apparently Elizabeth’s editor saw the same status, and her first thought was that we should all be thinking about those ladies of Sweet Briar. Within hours of posting the status, Elizabeth’s editor called with an offer for a Christmas book about those ladies of Sweet Briar. So between grating potatoes for latkes and melting chocolate for cookies I was interrupting Elizabeth’s Christmas shopping to negotiate with one of the few editors who was actually still in the office.
And who says nothing happens over the holidays?
Jessica
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Old-Fashioned Way
This blog post over the holiday about our own “agent to the stars” Kim Lionetti made me want to write about my own thoughts on things like Christmas cards.
When it comes to certain things I’m a bit of an old-fashioned gal. I believe in the power of the Christmas card. I love getting them and I love sending them. Okay, I love when they’re sent. Like Jeff, it drives me crazy that we’ve become a world of the assembly-line Christmas card. I get that you’re busy. We’re all busy. But if it’s the one time of year when I hear from you, do you think you could pull out a pen and write a simple “Merry Christmas” on my card?
I remember as a kid being in awe of those families that sent out cards signed by everyone. Old and young all signed their own names. Now it seems I’m in awe of anyone who writes a simple message. I miss the days when people took the time to tell a little about themselves and their year or to just connect on a personal level. Does that mean I’d rather have either a hand-written card or no card at all? No, but I will admit to feeling a little more special when I get a note.
Want to know what other things I do the old-fashioned way? I write and mail thank-you notes, with stamps. I always make a phone call to offer representation, and I send birthday cards, in the mail, with a stamp, to all friends and family.
That’s just me. An old-fashioned girl.
Jessica
When it comes to certain things I’m a bit of an old-fashioned gal. I believe in the power of the Christmas card. I love getting them and I love sending them. Okay, I love when they’re sent. Like Jeff, it drives me crazy that we’ve become a world of the assembly-line Christmas card. I get that you’re busy. We’re all busy. But if it’s the one time of year when I hear from you, do you think you could pull out a pen and write a simple “Merry Christmas” on my card?
I remember as a kid being in awe of those families that sent out cards signed by everyone. Old and young all signed their own names. Now it seems I’m in awe of anyone who writes a simple message. I miss the days when people took the time to tell a little about themselves and their year or to just connect on a personal level. Does that mean I’d rather have either a hand-written card or no card at all? No, but I will admit to feeling a little more special when I get a note.
Want to know what other things I do the old-fashioned way? I write and mail thank-you notes, with stamps. I always make a phone call to offer representation, and I send birthday cards, in the mail, with a stamp, to all friends and family.
That’s just me. An old-fashioned girl.
Jessica
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Luck and Success
I was reading the comments over at J.A. Konrath's Newbie Guide to Publishing blog. If you don't read this blog on a regular basis, I highly suggest you take a look. Joe is doing the indie book community a great service. His views are pretty opinionated, but so are mine so I can't really call that kettle black.
Joe got me thinking today when he mentioned how luck is responsible for publishing success. I'd have to say that in some cases this could be true but since we can't control something as random as luck I think we should examine those things that we can control.
When I think about what it takes to be successful, in publishing or anything my formula includes:
- Skill
- Talent
- Persistence
- Marketing
- Timing
Skill and Talent are closely related but not precisely the same. Skill is something that can be taught. Think of it is as the mechanics of writing. You have the ability to increase your skill. Take classes, read books, write more...all of these will make you a more skillful writer.
Talent is, IMO not something you can learn or teach. It is the ability to create something from nothingness. It is the artistic component to writing. In short it is the ability to conceive of a good story and memorable characters. To me it is the art of storytelling. Unfortunately, this is not one of the things you have control over.
Persistence is definitely something that you have full control over. You guarantee 100% failure if you give up. But persistence isn't hitting your head against the wall with he same results. Sometimes you need to adjust. If your first book isn't making it then persistence may mean writing a second or a third. Michael actually gave up writing for 10 years and if he hadn't picked it back up he would not be as successful as he is now.
Marketing does not mean spending thousands of dollars to introduce your book to the world. It is the acorns from which might oaks grow. You (or someone on your behalf) must do marketing because even the best book in the world won't be read if no one knows it exists. The good news about marketing is you just need to get the ball rolling. Once enough people discover your book and you have skill and talent, then they will spread the word for you.
You would think that timing is not something you have control over, and in many respects that is true, but when related to persistence you actually do have some control. The timing for a book may not be right at a certain moment in time, but times change and if you are persistent your chances of hitting the right book at the right time goes up substantially.
If you hit on all 5 of these cylinders you'll be successful. I believe that firmly. It's not a matter of luck. But what if you don't have all of the above? Are you doomed?
Not really...your job is just a lot harder. The more of each of these components you have in your arsenal the better off you are. I myself weight them as follows (especially when I'm looking for a new author for Ridan).
1 - Talent - since this is the biggest factor that will contribute to words of mouth sales which is the ONLY way to be successful in the book business.
2 - Marketing - you have to prime the pump and once you reach a following you can coast a bit on this.
3 - Persistence because there will be so many times along the way when you feel "it’s not worth it" and want to give up. The only thing that guarantees failure is running out of persistence.
4 - Skill - doesn't concern me too much because it is easily dealt with by others (copy editors etc.) Someone less skillful just makes my job editing tougher but it’s not a total deterrent. Besides, if the story is good, people are willing to overlook a misplaced comma here or there.
5 - Timing - I don't try to follow trends in the industry as they are too hard to predict. Instead, I believe that a good story is timeless. After all Casablanca is as good to watch today as it was when it first came out.
Anyway, that's my thought for the day. I'm interested in your take on the subject.
Query Workshop
I've had numerous requests for another query contest, something we haven't done in quite a long time. Since these contests typically take time and a lot of work on our part, I've been trying to come up with a way to host them that gives you the guidance you seek without creating too much more work for us.
So here's how it works:
1. Each week (as long as we have time that week) we will post a fully critiqued query on our blog.
2. Queries will be picked at random from those submitted to us on the blog (address below). We will pick those that are good, bad, and ugly to give you an idea not only of what an agent's in-box looks like, but also to really help you all learn what it takes to write a strong query. If your query isn't picked, don't take it personally. We simply ran out of time.
3. No queries submitted to the workshop will be considered queries submitted for consideration. In other words, if you want to query BookEnds, follow our submission guidelines. If you want your query workshopped, follow the workshop guidelines. If you want to submit to both, go right ahead.
4. All authors submitting their query to the query workshop are giving BookEnds permission to post the query, in its entirety, to our blog for critique. We will delete all personal information (name and contact information) if you haven't already.
5. To be considered for the workshop, you should email your query to blog@bookends-inc.com and put "query workshop" in the subject line. All queries submitted to that address without that subject line will be deleted.
Happy workshopping!
Jessica
So here's how it works:
1. Each week (as long as we have time that week) we will post a fully critiqued query on our blog.
2. Queries will be picked at random from those submitted to us on the blog (address below). We will pick those that are good, bad, and ugly to give you an idea not only of what an agent's in-box looks like, but also to really help you all learn what it takes to write a strong query. If your query isn't picked, don't take it personally. We simply ran out of time.
3. No queries submitted to the workshop will be considered queries submitted for consideration. In other words, if you want to query BookEnds, follow our submission guidelines. If you want your query workshopped, follow the workshop guidelines. If you want to submit to both, go right ahead.
4. All authors submitting their query to the query workshop are giving BookEnds permission to post the query, in its entirety, to our blog for critique. We will delete all personal information (name and contact information) if you haven't already.
5. To be considered for the workshop, you should email your query to blog@bookends-inc.com and put "query workshop" in the subject line. All queries submitted to that address without that subject line will be deleted.
Happy workshopping!
Jessica
Monday, February 14, 2011
A Successful Reader's Report
I’ve done blog posts before on the reader report, but lately Kim and I have been discussing them more and more and trying to figure out what really makes a great reader report.
For those of you who aren’t aware, a reader report is something every single potential editor will have to do for a job interview; it’s also something interns and assistants do for their bosses, and believe it or not, it’s something all editors do almost every week for other members of their editorial staff. Whether written or verbal, a reader report gives your analysis of a book’s potential.
What I think gets confusing for some people is where your opinion comes into play in a reader report. If you sit in on an editorial meeting at a publishing company, you’ll hear a number of editors, as part of their reports, say things like, “I didn’t like this” or “I didn’t warm to the characters” or “This was absolutely fabulous. I loved it,” which can easily make you think that a reader report is all about your personal opinion. And it is and it isn’t.
Remember, these editors have likely been around for a long time, so when they say something like, “I didn’t like this book,” other editors in the room know that they are saying that based on years of editing. That not liking something means that they don’t see it as commercially viable. And that’s the point of a reader report.
When I get a reader report from a potential new hire, an intern, my assistant, or even Kim, I only really care about your opinion if you’ve been around long enough to show me that you have experience behind your opinion. In other words, when Kim says she doesn’t like something, it’s going to have different weight than if an intern says it. When an intern or a potential new hire says she doesn’t like something, I need to know why, and “because I’m not comfortable with it” isn’t going to fly. I want to know whether or not you feel the book is commercially viable, whether you’re comfortable with it or not.
For example, you might not like that sex scene in the opening chapter, but do you not like it because you are uncomfortable with sex scenes or do you not like it because you don’t feel it works for the book. In other words, does it feel gratuitous and out of place to you. Again, not because you think it’s too abrupt for the book, but because you don’t feel it fits the story. To you it feels like the author slapped it in because she needed an exciting opening.
When interviewing for jobs in publishing, especially with agencies and in editorial, you will often be asked to write a reader report, and I will tell you from experience that a reader report can make or break any possibility of you getting that job. I could interview the sweetest candidate in the world, but if she writes a really awful report I will not offer the job. To me that report is the one thing that shows whether or not she has the editorial eye needed to propel her to a career in this business.
Jessica
For those of you who aren’t aware, a reader report is something every single potential editor will have to do for a job interview; it’s also something interns and assistants do for their bosses, and believe it or not, it’s something all editors do almost every week for other members of their editorial staff. Whether written or verbal, a reader report gives your analysis of a book’s potential.
What I think gets confusing for some people is where your opinion comes into play in a reader report. If you sit in on an editorial meeting at a publishing company, you’ll hear a number of editors, as part of their reports, say things like, “I didn’t like this” or “I didn’t warm to the characters” or “This was absolutely fabulous. I loved it,” which can easily make you think that a reader report is all about your personal opinion. And it is and it isn’t.
Remember, these editors have likely been around for a long time, so when they say something like, “I didn’t like this book,” other editors in the room know that they are saying that based on years of editing. That not liking something means that they don’t see it as commercially viable. And that’s the point of a reader report.
When I get a reader report from a potential new hire, an intern, my assistant, or even Kim, I only really care about your opinion if you’ve been around long enough to show me that you have experience behind your opinion. In other words, when Kim says she doesn’t like something, it’s going to have different weight than if an intern says it. When an intern or a potential new hire says she doesn’t like something, I need to know why, and “because I’m not comfortable with it” isn’t going to fly. I want to know whether or not you feel the book is commercially viable, whether you’re comfortable with it or not.
For example, you might not like that sex scene in the opening chapter, but do you not like it because you are uncomfortable with sex scenes or do you not like it because you don’t feel it works for the book. In other words, does it feel gratuitous and out of place to you. Again, not because you think it’s too abrupt for the book, but because you don’t feel it fits the story. To you it feels like the author slapped it in because she needed an exciting opening.
When interviewing for jobs in publishing, especially with agencies and in editorial, you will often be asked to write a reader report, and I will tell you from experience that a reader report can make or break any possibility of you getting that job. I could interview the sweetest candidate in the world, but if she writes a really awful report I will not offer the job. To me that report is the one thing that shows whether or not she has the editorial eye needed to propel her to a career in this business.
Jessica
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Slipping into the Surreal…
Now that I got my post out about Create Space Vs. Lightning Source I can now get to posting some of the other topics on my mind. Two at the top are recent incidents that are just too strange. Both come to me via Writer’s Café on the Kindle Boards – a great place to hang out if you’re not already.
First, it was pointed out that MacMillian’s most recent contract has a provision whereby they are allowed to create future works from characters or worlds that you create and they will own the copyright to this. I can’t even begin to express what a huge mistake this would be for any author to sign up for. I’m sure that this is in the contract as a sacrificial lamb for agents to insist deletion of. Needless to say, if you are signing with MacMillian you must insist on the removal of this clause no matter how much money they are offering. Your creation, the worlds and characters of your imagination, is intellectual property with EXTREME value and under no circumstances should you relinquish it to another. You are setting yourself up to be screwed in the end and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself because you signed on the dotted line.
In a related note...it was also reported that the author of the Vampire Diaries was booted from their own series by Harper Collins. My knee jerk reaction was outrage until I read the facts. Vampire Diaries was conceived by Harper and the contracted the writing under a work-for-hire contract. Under these circumstances I stand firmly behind Harper Collins. They have every right to substitute an author under such an arrangement. If the author is upset, well again you knew (or should have known) what you got into when you started this. Don’t blame Harper Collins…blame yourself.
Second is an issue related to the Amanda Hocking, who I now refer to as Amazda. As you may recall I posted about her a few posts ago (and glad to see she is finally getting her props – Now on the USA Today Best Seller’s list and had a major USA Today article). But to make her new found success even more surreal…A book has been posted on Smashwords entitled: Amanda Hocking and her Success Secrets. This would be a great book…except that it wasn’t written by Amanda and from everything I can tell, the author, Laura Donoghue, didn’t even interview her for.
What’s even more amazing is this book highlights a few other authors including: H.P. Mallory, J.A. Konrath, and yes my very own Michael J. Sullivan! When I told Michael about this he Skyped back…”You know we have to buy it as I really need to know how we did it.” I did and read it 1/2 an hour - there's not much there.
Again Ms. Donoghue, did not interview myself or Michael. The book as a whole is cut/pastes from blogs (about 50% of the book contains Amazon reviews of the works of the profiled authors) there is really no insights from this book – Just a few numbered secrets that are so obvious they are laughable. In general the book is poorly researched some mistakes I pointed out in my review of it:
First, it was pointed out that MacMillian’s most recent contract has a provision whereby they are allowed to create future works from characters or worlds that you create and they will own the copyright to this. I can’t even begin to express what a huge mistake this would be for any author to sign up for. I’m sure that this is in the contract as a sacrificial lamb for agents to insist deletion of. Needless to say, if you are signing with MacMillian you must insist on the removal of this clause no matter how much money they are offering. Your creation, the worlds and characters of your imagination, is intellectual property with EXTREME value and under no circumstances should you relinquish it to another. You are setting yourself up to be screwed in the end and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself because you signed on the dotted line.
In a related note...it was also reported that the author of the Vampire Diaries was booted from their own series by Harper Collins. My knee jerk reaction was outrage until I read the facts. Vampire Diaries was conceived by Harper and the contracted the writing under a work-for-hire contract. Under these circumstances I stand firmly behind Harper Collins. They have every right to substitute an author under such an arrangement. If the author is upset, well again you knew (or should have known) what you got into when you started this. Don’t blame Harper Collins…blame yourself.
Second is an issue related to the Amanda Hocking, who I now refer to as Amazda. As you may recall I posted about her a few posts ago (and glad to see she is finally getting her props – Now on the USA Today Best Seller’s list and had a major USA Today article). But to make her new found success even more surreal…A book has been posted on Smashwords entitled: Amanda Hocking and her Success Secrets. This would be a great book…except that it wasn’t written by Amanda and from everything I can tell, the author, Laura Donoghue, didn’t even interview her for.
What’s even more amazing is this book highlights a few other authors including: H.P. Mallory, J.A. Konrath, and yes my very own Michael J. Sullivan! When I told Michael about this he Skyped back…”You know we have to buy it as I really need to know how we did it.” I did and read it 1/2 an hour - there's not much there.
Again Ms. Donoghue, did not interview myself or Michael. The book as a whole is cut/pastes from blogs (about 50% of the book contains Amazon reviews of the works of the profiled authors) there is really no insights from this book – Just a few numbered secrets that are so obvious they are laughable. In general the book is poorly researched some mistakes I pointed out in my review of it:
1 – Michael J. Sullivan who wrote The Riyria Revelations is NOT the same Michael J. Sullivan who wrote necessary heartbreak. A quick review of the Amazon author pages would have made this clear.2 – She states that Michael got to $30,000 a month in sales in 8 months when it actually took several years.3 – The stats she stated about multiple books (attributed to a selection of ebook publishers)
- 1 book published = 10 books sold per month
- 2 books published = 50 to 60 books sold per month
- 3 books published = 200 to 400 books sold per month
- 4 books published = 1,000 books sold per month
- 5 books published – over 10,000 books sold per month
Are in fact only Michael’s numbers – not the indie community at large – that was taken directly from a post I made.
4 – Rule #4 Set a Low Price indicates:“The highest price a newly self-published author should put on there ebook, is $2.99, and the only reason you should go that high, is to receive the 70% royalty that Amazon pays on books between $2.99 and $9.99.”
But Michael’s books are priced $4.95 to $6.95. And since he is one of the spotlighted authors shouldn’t this strategy have been explored a bit? I’ve posted numerous times (including test results) arguing for a higher price point and the success that can be achieved from such. If this book is telling the secrets of these authors then Michael’s pricing doesn’t support the premise.
I’m of two minds on this book:
- 1 – It is clearly an attempt to make money off of Amazda’s success – and doing so under false pretenses as far as I can say.
- 2 – The author was very complimentary to Michael and his works and as it is free publicity I’m not complaining too much.
Anyway, these are two things going on today that are on the top of my mind and so I thought I would share.
Create Space Vs Lightning Source
07/14/2011 - I've completely revised this post based on new information that has come to light since my original post back in February. If you've read this post in the past it might be worth a re-read. What's the new information?
When it comes to producing paper books there is no better choice, in my opinion, then to use POD (print on demand) technology. This reduces the risks involved in the upfront cash investment of doing a large offset print run. Besides, I've put out for bid various copies of Ridan's books in quantities from 50 - 500 and I've never found a printer to match the per book pricing you can receive through POD.
When it comes to POD the two big players are CreateSpace and LightningSource. From here on out in this post I'll refer to them as CS and LS respectively. I've used both of them quite a bit in the past, and which one you use will depend on what exactly you will be doing with the printed books. If you are printing them for your own use (to sell direct on your website or to use as review copies) the answer will be different then if you want to distribute through channels such as Amazon and bookstores.
A quick note: Neither CS nor LS are publishers. They are vendors (printer/distributors) that require you to provide them with print ready files. Both offer add-on services such as editing, layout, and cover design but you should NEVER purchase these services from either organization (You can get it better and cheaper elsewhere – sigh…another topic for another day). So for the sake of this post we’re going to talk about what you SHOULD use them for.
If you need books yourself (for reviewers or direct selling on your website) there is no question that CS is the better choice and even if you decide LS is going to be your distribution partner I suggest you use both (yes you can use both) for books you buy for yourself.
Okay, now we come to the single biggest part of the CS vs LS equation and that is how these printed books are distributed. For those that don’t know books are not sold from publishers to bookstores they use a distribution channel. (Bookstores don’t want to write 10,000 checks to 10,000 publishers – the publishers will use a few (or just one) distribution partner and write only one check to them. The distribution partner then manages getting the books to the thousands and thousands of various sales outlets (both online and physical).
Lighting Source
LS is a subsidiary of Ingram. For those that don’t know Ingram is the 800-lb gorilla when it comes to brick and mortar bookstores. I would venture to say that almost any bookstore "can" order through Ingram though some probably order from other places as well to get best pricing. Being distributed through Ingram doesn’t mean store shelf space it means the “ability” to buy the book. (More on this in a minute). With LS you can set your discount to anything (as low as 20% though they recommend 55% to get maximum exposure)
Create Space
CS does not get you into Ingram. It puts you into something called the Expanded Distribution Channel which is stated as: “the potential to distribute your book to a larger audience through more outlets including: retailers, bookstores, libraries, academic institutions, wholesalers, and distributors.” Remember what I mentioned about bookstores wanting to write 10,000 checks? Well Amazon is a big enough player that many will add Amazon to their list (like Ingram) but unlike LS, CS does not detail who they are or give you any guarantees. The discount on the EDC is pretty high (60%) but that is pretty standard because the people they distribute to need to have their cut of the pie.
Amazon Selling
Since this is our biggest dead tree market we want to maximize the income from this channel. In this case, LS is the clear winner as you can set your discount in LS to 20% rather than the 40% that CS will take. So let's revisit our 300 page book ans assume that it is being sold on Amazon for $12.95.
But there are some catches.
Okay now let's consider bookstores. As previously mentioned Ingram is HUGE in this space so LS has a competitive advantage over CS
So the books may not be on the bookstore shelf but it usually means that someone can walk into a store with an ISBN, and special order a book in the Ingram chain. The bookstore may require the person requesting to "pay up front" and some may not have the systems that allow them to order POD so even though you are in Ingram but your chances of special ordering are better if you are with Ingram then if you are not.
And once again there is a catch...remember that I said that you couldn't have different discount rates when using LS? So if you set 20% to maximize your Amazon sales you've probably shot yourself in the foot for any bookstore sales. Generally they want 50%-60% discount rates so when they see you are only offering 20% they may not think that it is worth it. Again, this may be a situation where you do a little hybrid - use CS for Amazon selling (and take 40%) and set your LS discount rate at 55% (and probably specify returns allowed) to be most attractive to bookstore selling.
Other Channels
As far as non Amazon and non bookstore I think that CS and LS are about equal. If I compare my sales from both LS titles and CS titles that I've done through Ridan I sell a bit more in the EDC than LS but the differences in numbers and the differences in discount rates are not enough to make one better than the other.
Using Both
There's no reason why you can't use both CS and LS. And in fact I do this. In the beginning I used LS with a 55% discount and returnables to get Ingram distribution but sold directly through Amazon for 40% discounts (and saved 15%). The problem...LS even with their Ingram channel was not moving many of my books through their channel. In fact the $117 setup fee took me a LONG LONG time to make back and so for awhile I abandoned LS altogether. But...when I found out I could get 20% discount on Amazon I started using LS again (primarily for books sold to Amazon) and purchased any books I sold directly with CS.
If you do both here's what you need to know.
CONCLUSIONS
- Some rebuttals to my original post that pointed out you can get 20% discount with Amazon rather than 40%
- A recent email that alerted me to Amazon not keeping Lightning Source titles well stocked
When it comes to producing paper books there is no better choice, in my opinion, then to use POD (print on demand) technology. This reduces the risks involved in the upfront cash investment of doing a large offset print run. Besides, I've put out for bid various copies of Ridan's books in quantities from 50 - 500 and I've never found a printer to match the per book pricing you can receive through POD.
When it comes to POD the two big players are CreateSpace and LightningSource. From here on out in this post I'll refer to them as CS and LS respectively. I've used both of them quite a bit in the past, and which one you use will depend on what exactly you will be doing with the printed books. If you are printing them for your own use (to sell direct on your website or to use as review copies) the answer will be different then if you want to distribute through channels such as Amazon and bookstores.
A quick note: Neither CS nor LS are publishers. They are vendors (printer/distributors) that require you to provide them with print ready files. Both offer add-on services such as editing, layout, and cover design but you should NEVER purchase these services from either organization (You can get it better and cheaper elsewhere – sigh…another topic for another day). So for the sake of this post we’re going to talk about what you SHOULD use them for.
- Producing high quality printed books
- Distributing printing books.
- Providing books to yourself for selling direct (via your website) or giving away to reviewers
QUALITY
Let’s first talk about the quality. They are nearly indistinguishable. (I suspect they are using the same equipment). The covers and interiors come out as good as any book you’ll find in a bookstore. Yes offset is done with ink, and POD is basically a laser printing (using toner) but unless you put a printer's loop on the page you'll not see the difference. If none of my previous sentence made any sense to you, don’t worry – it just says that the quality is very good for both and you should not be concerned.
NOTE: If you have a lot of black and white photographs - I suggest you proof carefully (and possibly adjust the images) as this is one area where there are differences between toner and ink. But, if your book is largely just black text on a white page - you'll see no differences.
I've printed the same book, from exactly the same files (well adjusting for spine width a bit -- LS uses slightly lighter weight of white paper (I've not used their creme so I can't comment) and so their books are a tad thinner than a CS book) and there are very slight 4-color color differences, but both come out looking very good.
Someone else pointed out to me that one uses white glue (LS on the spine and the other a yellow glue (CS) but that's picking at nits and the important point is that both glues do what they are suppose to which is keep the pages between the covers (something I personally had a bad experience with when using a short-run printer that was neither of the above).
Another point that should be made…especially by people who publish through the likes of iUniverse and Xlibris etc. These companies use CS and LS for their printing. In the past I believe most of the big publishers used LS but I’m sure they “shop this around” frequently and I can’t say for sure who they use now but I’d lay dollars to donuts that it is one or the other of these two companies.
COSTS – A comparison
Okay, so let’s compare the costs. For per book printing, both are priced in a similar way – in that they charge based on # of pages.
Per book print fees:
- CS is # of pages x .012 + $0.85 for cover (for any book)
- LS is # of pages x .013 + $0.90 for cover (for books sold through channel)
- LS is # of pages x .015 + $0.90 for cover (for books sold direct to publisher)
This doesn’t seem like much difference but lets do the comparison for a 300 page book
- CS = $4.45 (all books)
- LS = $4.80 (those sold through the channel)
- LS = $5.40 (those sold to you)
If you need books yourself (for reviewers or direct selling on your website) there is no question that CS is the better choice and even if you decide LS is going to be your distribution partner I suggest you use both (yes you can use both) for books you buy for yourself.
Now let’s look at “setup fees” they are:
- CS $39.00 per title (using the PRO plan – which you should ALWAYS use)
- LS $75.00 per title ($37.50 for interior, $37.50 for cover)
Proof fees?
- CS = price of book + shipping so about $7.00 - $9.00 depending on shipping method selected
- LS = $30.00
Yearly fees?
- LS = $12.00 per title per year
- CS has one – but it’s been waived every year I’ve been with them so I can’t remember what it is – I think it is $10 - $20 or so but since I’ve never had to pay it I don’t keep track.
- LS = $117 per book
- CS = $46 - $48 per book
Okay, now we come to the single biggest part of the CS vs LS equation and that is how these printed books are distributed. For those that don’t know books are not sold from publishers to bookstores they use a distribution channel. (Bookstores don’t want to write 10,000 checks to 10,000 publishers – the publishers will use a few (or just one) distribution partner and write only one check to them. The distribution partner then manages getting the books to the thousands and thousands of various sales outlets (both online and physical).
Lighting Source
LS is a subsidiary of Ingram. For those that don’t know Ingram is the 800-lb gorilla when it comes to brick and mortar bookstores. I would venture to say that almost any bookstore "can" order through Ingram though some probably order from other places as well to get best pricing. Being distributed through Ingram doesn’t mean store shelf space it means the “ability” to buy the book. (More on this in a minute). With LS you can set your discount to anything (as low as 20% though they recommend 55% to get maximum exposure)
Create Space
CS does not get you into Ingram. It puts you into something called the Expanded Distribution Channel which is stated as: “the potential to distribute your book to a larger audience through more outlets including: retailers, bookstores, libraries, academic institutions, wholesalers, and distributors.” Remember what I mentioned about bookstores wanting to write 10,000 checks? Well Amazon is a big enough player that many will add Amazon to their list (like Ingram) but unlike LS, CS does not detail who they are or give you any guarantees. The discount on the EDC is pretty high (60%) but that is pretty standard because the people they distribute to need to have their cut of the pie.
Channels
So what can we say about both companies and distribution….they give “some” opportunity to get the books to “other” outlets.I'm going to break distribution down into several important channels:
- Amazon (because they are the biggest online retailer)
- Brick and Mortar Bookstores (because most authors want their books to show up here)
- Other Online Retailers
- Large majority from Amazon
- Next highest sold direct through our website
- A few books sold through other distribution channels
Amazon Selling
Since this is our biggest dead tree market we want to maximize the income from this channel. In this case, LS is the clear winner as you can set your discount in LS to 20% rather than the 40% that CS will take. So let's revisit our 300 page book ans assume that it is being sold on Amazon for $12.95.
- LS: $12.95 - $4.80 (print) - $2.59 (distribution) = $5.56 profit per book sold
- CS: $12.95 - $4.45 (print) - $5.18 (distribution) = $3.32 profit per book sold
But there are some catches.
- With LS you can't choose different discount %'s for different channels. And bookstores generally want a 50% - 60% discount so by offering 20% your chances of selling any in brick and mortar stores is slim at best.
- When using CS Amazon has 40% margin so they will discount your books - I've seen as much as 32% off offered on books by Ridan sold through CS. Buyers like discounted books so this "sales price" may entice more purchases. At 20% discount I've never seen Amazon put those books on sale (they are already too slim on their margin). Now all this being said - there is no guarantee what books Amazon will discount and which they will not so just because you use CS will not guarantee discounting.
- In Stock - if you use CS your books will always show as "in stock". In the deep dark past there was a time when Amazon removed any non CS POD books - which brought outcries from many for obvious reasons. They got into huge trouble for this and restored the titles but it appears that now they may be cutting inventory kind of close when ordering books from other distributors. A recent article (7/7/2011) in Self-Publishing Review alerted me to this. In fact I've been checking my non CS titles daily and sure enough Nathan Lowell's Full Share is constantly teetering on being "unavailable". He currently has 2 copies available but it has been fluctuating between 7 and 9 most days and I've not seen it "fully in stock" since I started watching it when this article came to my attention.
Okay now let's consider bookstores. As previously mentioned Ingram is HUGE in this space so LS has a competitive advantage over CS
- LS: Is owned by Ingram and uses them to distribute their titles.
- CS: Will not get you into the Ingram but they have their own Expanded Distribution Network (EDC) but they will take 60% margin instead of 40%
So the books may not be on the bookstore shelf but it usually means that someone can walk into a store with an ISBN, and special order a book in the Ingram chain. The bookstore may require the person requesting to "pay up front" and some may not have the systems that allow them to order POD so even though you are in Ingram but your chances of special ordering are better if you are with Ingram then if you are not.
And once again there is a catch...remember that I said that you couldn't have different discount rates when using LS? So if you set 20% to maximize your Amazon sales you've probably shot yourself in the foot for any bookstore sales. Generally they want 50%-60% discount rates so when they see you are only offering 20% they may not think that it is worth it. Again, this may be a situation where you do a little hybrid - use CS for Amazon selling (and take 40%) and set your LS discount rate at 55% (and probably specify returns allowed) to be most attractive to bookstore selling.
Other Channels
As far as non Amazon and non bookstore I think that CS and LS are about equal. If I compare my sales from both LS titles and CS titles that I've done through Ridan I sell a bit more in the EDC than LS but the differences in numbers and the differences in discount rates are not enough to make one better than the other.
Using Both
There's no reason why you can't use both CS and LS. And in fact I do this. In the beginning I used LS with a 55% discount and returnables to get Ingram distribution but sold directly through Amazon for 40% discounts (and saved 15%). The problem...LS even with their Ingram channel was not moving many of my books through their channel. In fact the $117 setup fee took me a LONG LONG time to make back and so for awhile I abandoned LS altogether. But...when I found out I could get 20% discount on Amazon I started using LS again (primarily for books sold to Amazon) and purchased any books I sold directly with CS.
If you do both here's what you need to know.
- You don't need two ISBN's - In both cases they are the same format of book (trade paperback) so only one ISBN is needed
- The Interior PDFs can be exactly the same file - no formatting changes required
- The Cover PDFS will have to be adjusted slightly for different spine widths once you know the page count you need to go to each site and look for their "spine calculators" to determine the size of the cover.
CONCLUSIONS
So, let’s wrap up this very long post….
- DTB (dead tree books) are worth while to sell directly (via your website) as there are no distribution fees (just a small credit card processing fee) buy books to be sold this way from CS.
- Amazon – the “cheapest” way to do this (lowest discount) is to go direct to LS where the discount is 20%.
- Distribution channel of LS should be better than CS (Ingram is a powerhouse) but you negate this if using 20% discount for Amazon. If you really want to maximize the Ingram channel you should have a discount of 55% and mark your books as returnable.
- If your sales volume is VERY low on print books it may take you awhile to earn back $117 setup fee for LS.
- Quality is the same between both
If you read my original post on this subject I said that CS was the clear winner but that was before I knew you could do the 20% discount through LS and that has shifted my thinking. So now it really comes down to which distribution channel you want to maximize and you need to choose your partner and the discount rate carefully.
As always I’d love to hear what you think about this post.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Author Speed Date
The idea of speed dating is that you get 10 minutes to sit down with a prospective date and get to know them. In that spirit, we present Author Speed Date. A quick 10 minutes for you to get to know some of our clients. Today we'd like you to meet Ellery Adams.
BookEnds Author Speed Date
BookEnds Author Speed Date
Name (the one you’re published under): Ellery AdamsAbout Me
Speed date Bio (one or two lines): Likes: the ocean, animals, cupcakes with strawberry frosting, books, traveling, making things grow. Dislikes: caterpillars, ironing, Brussels sprouts, the smell of airplane cabins, discourtesy
Web Link: www.elleryadamsmysteries.com Stop by this month and you could win a new 3G Kindle!
Next Book, pub date: A Deadly Cliché, March 1, 2011
Agent: Uberagent Jessica Faust
About My Writing
Real Name or Pseudonym: Jennifer/J.B. Stanley
Currently Reading: The Likeness by Tana French
Next on Your Reading List: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Facebook or Twitter (include account name): ElleryAdams
Three authors living or dead you would want to have dinner with: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Ellery Queen
Jet-setter or armchair traveler: Both
Glass ½ full or ½ empty: ½ full yet always on the lookout for the waiter
Tea or Coffee: Coffee, vats of it
Live to write or Write to live: Both
When (time of day) I write: original writing in the morning, editing during the afternoon
Writing soundtrack: All over the place. Beethoven one session, Lady Gaga the next, a little Keith Urban for later, and a nightcap with Josh Groban
Character Inspirations: Faulty people with complex pasts, a wry sense of humor, and a desire to see justice served
Plot Inspirations: For readers to get to the end of my books and say, “I didn’t see that coming.”
Setting Inspirations: Small towns with plenty of charm and more than a few killers at large
Plotter (carefully plot books) or Pantser (write from the seat of my pants): A blend of the two. I plot bits at a time and then often chuck the outlines out the window and just wing it. Writing is all about following one’s gut, even if it means a constant supply of coffee and cupcakes.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Bringing an Agent on Board
I am a two time published author and was wondering if you represented work that had all ready been signed by a Publisher. I just need help with promotions and help to get other stuff signed too, so would you be interested in doing something like that?
Once a contract has been signed an agent doesn’t legally, in the eyes of the publisher, represent those books. However, it is possible to bring an agent on board later in your career, before the next contract, to assist in career planning and in the next steps for your career, as well as future book contracts. The trick is that you will still need to have a plan to pitch to the agent.
As for promotions, an agent will typically guide you and help brainstorm ideas when it comes to publicity and promotion, but except for a few larger agencies, most agents don’t directly handle publicity or promotion; that’s something you would hire a publicist for.
Jessica
Once a contract has been signed an agent doesn’t legally, in the eyes of the publisher, represent those books. However, it is possible to bring an agent on board later in your career, before the next contract, to assist in career planning and in the next steps for your career, as well as future book contracts. The trick is that you will still need to have a plan to pitch to the agent.
As for promotions, an agent will typically guide you and help brainstorm ideas when it comes to publicity and promotion, but except for a few larger agencies, most agents don’t directly handle publicity or promotion; that’s something you would hire a publicist for.
Jessica
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A Holiday Gift List
Back in October I asked you to help me do my holiday shopping. Thank you. I did really well this year and was quite proud of myself. As always, I lost my mind in the bookstore and couldn’t stop buying, desperately trying to find books for everyone on my list. I took some of the advice you gave, buying some books for myself (oops), and I think I used some of your ideas for people on my list.
It’s only fair, now that the packages are unwrapped and the paper cleared away, to share my gift list. So here is a list of the books that I gifted this year.
15-year-old boy: Deadliest Sea by Kalee Thompson. I was really excited to find this book. He has dreams and aspirations of joining the Coast Guard and I think this is the perfect book.
12-year-old girl: I wanted to take the advice of one of my readers and buy The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. I haven’t read the book yet, which I would like to do, but it sounded terrific. After much thought though I couldn’t decide if it sounded like her (I learned after my post that she’s a fan of 39 Clues). So instead I got her The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
10-year-old boy: This was a tougher one for me. I’m not always sure what to get this reader. He loves to cook, but I got him a cookbook last year so that didn’t seem right. Finally I decided on The Mysterious Benedict Society #1 by Trenton Lee Stewart.
Adult male: Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris. I can’t believe I’ve never read this book. Do you know it’s been on my wish list for 10 years? Annoying.
Adult male: The Hunger Games trilogy. I think it’s a must-read for everyone and the box set is a guaranteed classic, plus I just really, really wanted him to read it.
Then there are three children I adore but typically do not buy gifts for. This year though I really wanted to buy the oldest girl, who has just become a reader, my favorite book, and because of that they all get books.
8-year-old girl: Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace. A classic. One of my all-time favorite series as a child and I just had to get this for her.
6-year-old boy: Edward Fudwupper Fibbed Big by Berkeley Breathed. This has become a favorite in our house, as have all of his books, and I thought this little boy would get a kick out of the power of one fib.
3-year-old girl: Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell. Kim has talked about this book a lot. It’s a favorite at her house, so when I was thinking of books I immediately called Kim to get the name and ordered it up. It looks to me like a book every child should have.
Couple: This couple specifically asked for a cookbook. She is on a gluten-free diet and they both work, so getting dinner on the table has been a struggle for them. They wanted primarily gluten-free recipes, but quick and easy so they could get home, easily choose a recipe, and cook it fast. So I did two things. I made a cookbook through Tastebook of family favorites as well as recipes pulled through the website, and I bought them Fresh Flavor Fast by Martha Steward Living Magazine. The recipes are quick and every single one includes a picture, which I think is perfect for those who aren’t cooks.
For myself (from Santa of course): Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I’ve been dying to read this so slipped it into my order when no one was looking.
For my kids: My Mommy Hung the Moon. Last year I got them Mars Needs Moms, which is one of the greatest books ever, and I wanted something similar. This isn’t quite there, but I do like Jamie Lee Curtis’s books.
In addition to Christmas presents we received an invitation to a 5-year-old girl’s birthday party. After staring mindlessly at a sea of pink in the toy store I suggested to my son that maybe we buy her a “Laura and Mary” book since they’ve been his favorites. He beamed at the suggestion and told me he thought that was “a great idea,” so she got Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I’m not sure about the little girl, but rumor has it the mother liked it.
And you know, for some reason, I still think I didn’t buy enough books.
Jessica
It’s only fair, now that the packages are unwrapped and the paper cleared away, to share my gift list. So here is a list of the books that I gifted this year.
15-year-old boy: Deadliest Sea by Kalee Thompson. I was really excited to find this book. He has dreams and aspirations of joining the Coast Guard and I think this is the perfect book.
12-year-old girl: I wanted to take the advice of one of my readers and buy The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. I haven’t read the book yet, which I would like to do, but it sounded terrific. After much thought though I couldn’t decide if it sounded like her (I learned after my post that she’s a fan of 39 Clues). So instead I got her The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
10-year-old boy: This was a tougher one for me. I’m not always sure what to get this reader. He loves to cook, but I got him a cookbook last year so that didn’t seem right. Finally I decided on The Mysterious Benedict Society #1 by Trenton Lee Stewart.
Adult male: Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris. I can’t believe I’ve never read this book. Do you know it’s been on my wish list for 10 years? Annoying.
Adult male: The Hunger Games trilogy. I think it’s a must-read for everyone and the box set is a guaranteed classic, plus I just really, really wanted him to read it.
Then there are three children I adore but typically do not buy gifts for. This year though I really wanted to buy the oldest girl, who has just become a reader, my favorite book, and because of that they all get books.
8-year-old girl: Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace. A classic. One of my all-time favorite series as a child and I just had to get this for her.
6-year-old boy: Edward Fudwupper Fibbed Big by Berkeley Breathed. This has become a favorite in our house, as have all of his books, and I thought this little boy would get a kick out of the power of one fib.
3-year-old girl: Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell. Kim has talked about this book a lot. It’s a favorite at her house, so when I was thinking of books I immediately called Kim to get the name and ordered it up. It looks to me like a book every child should have.
Couple: This couple specifically asked for a cookbook. She is on a gluten-free diet and they both work, so getting dinner on the table has been a struggle for them. They wanted primarily gluten-free recipes, but quick and easy so they could get home, easily choose a recipe, and cook it fast. So I did two things. I made a cookbook through Tastebook of family favorites as well as recipes pulled through the website, and I bought them Fresh Flavor Fast by Martha Steward Living Magazine. The recipes are quick and every single one includes a picture, which I think is perfect for those who aren’t cooks.
For myself (from Santa of course): Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I’ve been dying to read this so slipped it into my order when no one was looking.
For my kids: My Mommy Hung the Moon. Last year I got them Mars Needs Moms, which is one of the greatest books ever, and I wanted something similar. This isn’t quite there, but I do like Jamie Lee Curtis’s books.
In addition to Christmas presents we received an invitation to a 5-year-old girl’s birthday party. After staring mindlessly at a sea of pink in the toy store I suggested to my son that maybe we buy her a “Laura and Mary” book since they’ve been his favorites. He beamed at the suggestion and told me he thought that was “a great idea,” so she got Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I’m not sure about the little girl, but rumor has it the mother liked it.
And you know, for some reason, I still think I didn’t buy enough books.
Jessica
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
It's All Subjective . . . to a Point
We talk a lot about how subjective this business is, about how an agent could be rejecting your book simply because she doesn’t like dogs and you have a dog as a sidekick, or because she doesn’t like characters named Sara. And this is true, but not to the extreme I think some of you like to think or agents like to use as examples. Certainly there are times when we reject books or queries simply because it’s not the type of thing we represent or are interested in representing. For example, I won’t even bother to read Tom Clancy-esque military thrillers because I have no interest in them. They are not my forte, so in that case it is entirely personal preference.
When reading in a genre I do represent, however, there’s more that goes into a request for more or a rejection, more than just the fact that I love dogs or am entranced with Steampunk. My subjectivity is often also based on the market or how well the concept is working for me (which of course is subjective). For example, I love all things food. Query me with a chef or restaurateur and you’ve immediately piqued my interest. That doesn’t mean that just because you’ve included a chef or restaurateur in your book I’m going to offer representation. There’s so much more to it than that, so much more to it than just my personal preference.
When judging a manuscript, whether I’m reading it for myself or for someone else, my subjectivity comes into play in how the book works for me, not that I don’t like dogs. In other words, I might not like dogs, but does the dog in your manuscript work? Does it have a role, does it feel like it belongs, is the purpose of the dog realistic? That’s the trick. A good author will make the book work for just about anyone. If it’s not working, that’s the problem, and that’s when I’ll remember that I don’t like dogs.
Jessica
When reading in a genre I do represent, however, there’s more that goes into a request for more or a rejection, more than just the fact that I love dogs or am entranced with Steampunk. My subjectivity is often also based on the market or how well the concept is working for me (which of course is subjective). For example, I love all things food. Query me with a chef or restaurateur and you’ve immediately piqued my interest. That doesn’t mean that just because you’ve included a chef or restaurateur in your book I’m going to offer representation. There’s so much more to it than that, so much more to it than just my personal preference.
When judging a manuscript, whether I’m reading it for myself or for someone else, my subjectivity comes into play in how the book works for me, not that I don’t like dogs. In other words, I might not like dogs, but does the dog in your manuscript work? Does it have a role, does it feel like it belongs, is the purpose of the dog realistic? That’s the trick. A good author will make the book work for just about anyone. If it’s not working, that’s the problem, and that’s when I’ll remember that I don’t like dogs.
Jessica
Monday, February 7, 2011
An Unhappy Client
1) I have an agent
2) I'm published
3) I'm unhappy with my agent due to (a) lack of communication (b) she can't stay connected with the internet or phone service because she lives in the middle of somewhere (c) updates on the four (4) new proposals she has are being treated as non-existent (d) legal issues with my publisher have been neglected
I'm at a literary standstill.
Any ideas?
Am I wrong for being professionally needy but impatient?
First of all, it doesn’t sound like you are being needy or impatient, professionally or otherwise. The fact that you are still with this agent says to me that you have already shown a great deal of patience, and as for being needy, having expectations that your business partner will do her job is not needy.
I could be wrong, but unless your agent lives in a third world nation or maybe the Canadian Wilderness, it seems to me she should be able to stay connected with phone or Internet. Are you telling me that her services go down so frequently that she never has a chance to send an email or make a phone call? C’mon! I’m not buying that. On days when my Internet goes down I still have plenty of time to write emails. They’ll just have to wait to be sent until the Internet clicks back on.
The truth is, the only excuse your agent has is, maybe, laziness. Or I guess lack of interest. Whatever it is, she’s not doing her job. She’s not communicating with you, she’s not helping you with legal issues; let me repeat, she’s not doing her job.
It’s time to cut and run. Do whatever your contract requires to get out of this agent, take control of your literary career, and find a new agent.
Jessica
2) I'm published
3) I'm unhappy with my agent due to (a) lack of communication (b) she can't stay connected with the internet or phone service because she lives in the middle of somewhere (c) updates on the four (4) new proposals she has are being treated as non-existent (d) legal issues with my publisher have been neglected
I'm at a literary standstill.
Any ideas?
Am I wrong for being professionally needy but impatient?
First of all, it doesn’t sound like you are being needy or impatient, professionally or otherwise. The fact that you are still with this agent says to me that you have already shown a great deal of patience, and as for being needy, having expectations that your business partner will do her job is not needy.
I could be wrong, but unless your agent lives in a third world nation or maybe the Canadian Wilderness, it seems to me she should be able to stay connected with phone or Internet. Are you telling me that her services go down so frequently that she never has a chance to send an email or make a phone call? C’mon! I’m not buying that. On days when my Internet goes down I still have plenty of time to write emails. They’ll just have to wait to be sent until the Internet clicks back on.
The truth is, the only excuse your agent has is, maybe, laziness. Or I guess lack of interest. Whatever it is, she’s not doing her job. She’s not communicating with you, she’s not helping you with legal issues; let me repeat, she’s not doing her job.
It’s time to cut and run. Do whatever your contract requires to get out of this agent, take control of your literary career, and find a new agent.
Jessica
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Email Thread
When you reply to an email you typically have the option, through your email program, to include the email thread with each reply. The email thread is the exchange of emails between you and the person you are replying to. If you don't have this turned on, please turn it on.
I don't know about you, but I rely on this email thread. With clients it helps me to see what we've been discussing, with editors the email thread can include each step of a discussion or negotiation, and with queries it helps me to see exactly what you're sending, that I really did request it, and whether or not I want to read it right this minute or if it's something that can wait until next month. If there's no thread it typically waits until next month.
Please always include the email thread in your replies to everyone.
Jessica
Jessica
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Synopsis
Lately I’ve received a number of submissions that did not include the synopsis I requested. In some cases, the author sent the entire manuscript claiming the synopsis was too hard to write so it was skipped. In other cases the authors sent sample chapters and simply ignored my request for the synopsis.
I know a synopsis is a pain to write; I do realize that, and many times I don’t even read the synopsis. That being said, it’s still a very important piece of your submission package. There are times when I’m reading a submission and concerned that the book is heading off in the wrong direction, in a way that doesn’t make sense, and checking the synopsis can clarify that for me; it can also clarify whether or not I should continue reading. Maybe I see that the book needs extensive edits, but reading the synopsis can confirm that overall it’s going in the right direction.
If I look to a synopsis for clarification and it’s not there, often I will decide that if the book needs work it’s probably just easier to reject. A synopsis could have changed my mind. A synopsis also could have given me better understanding of the book, so if I am rejecting maybe I’ll be able to give feedback that relates more to the entire book instead of just the chapters I read.
Write the synopsis. You’re going to need it. If it’s not for me, you’ll need it for your editor, your copy writers, your cover artists, etc. You will need a synopsis.
Jessica
I know a synopsis is a pain to write; I do realize that, and many times I don’t even read the synopsis. That being said, it’s still a very important piece of your submission package. There are times when I’m reading a submission and concerned that the book is heading off in the wrong direction, in a way that doesn’t make sense, and checking the synopsis can clarify that for me; it can also clarify whether or not I should continue reading. Maybe I see that the book needs extensive edits, but reading the synopsis can confirm that overall it’s going in the right direction.
If I look to a synopsis for clarification and it’s not there, often I will decide that if the book needs work it’s probably just easier to reject. A synopsis could have changed my mind. A synopsis also could have given me better understanding of the book, so if I am rejecting maybe I’ll be able to give feedback that relates more to the entire book instead of just the chapters I read.
Write the synopsis. You’re going to need it. If it’s not for me, you’ll need it for your editor, your copy writers, your cover artists, etc. You will need a synopsis.
Jessica
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Writing Novellas by Sally MacKenzie
An Invitation to SinPublisher: Kensington Zebra
Pub date: February 2011
Agent: Jessica Faust
(Click to Buy)
My second novella, “The Naked Prince,” releases today. I’m excited to be in an anthology headlined by New York Times bestseller and romance icon Jo Beverley. I’m hoping her fans—and those of the other authors, Vanessa Kelly and Kaitlin O’Riley—will enjoy my story, too, and be motivated to seek out my backlist—and to snap up my next book, The Naked King, when it comes out in June. And I’m happy to have another release out in the world, especially since I write only one book a year.
Wait a minute! Only one book a year, you say? Isn’t that sacrilege in romance land? If I can’t write two—or three—books a year, of course I should be knocking out a novella. Writing a shorter story—my novellas are 25,000 to 30,000 words, about a quarter the length of my novels—should be a snap, right?
Not exactly, at least not for me. Some writers are bristling with ideas and can write wonderful stories quickly and consistently. Sadly, I am not one of them. I agonize over every word, often to a fault. And short definitely doesn’t mean easy, IMHO. I find it quite a challenge to create three-dimensional characters, a coherent plot, humor, and a believable happily-ever-after ending in a style my core readers expect in only 100 rather than 400 manuscript pages.
How do I write a novella? My first step is choosing a suitable plot and main characters. The plot can’t be very convoluted, and the characters can’t have an elaborate backstory—or at least a backstory I feel compelled to explore in depth. Actually, I discover my novella heroes and heroines in my novels. I didn’t know Lord and Lady Kenderly’s story when they appeared in the The Naked King, but I knew they were going to be the stars of “The Naked Prince.” (This was a bit tricky, as I wrote the King first and then had to go back on copyedits and revise the novel to make it consistent with the “Prince.” Time is often a little out of sync in publishing.)
Once I have my characters and plot, I try a variety of things, probably concepts familiar to you, to tell a complete story in a relatively small amount of space. I’ve limited the setting—“The Naked Prince” happens on one country estate. I’ve limited the story’s duration—the "Prince" takes place over a couple of days. I still have a fair number of secondary characters, but I don’t spend as much time with them as I would in a novel, and I limit point of view to only the hero’s and the heroine’s. If I have any subplots, they are minor. As I say, my novellas and novels are all loosely connected; this is fun for me—and I hope fun for my readers as well—but I have to constantly guard against getting carried away with that, especially in a novella. There just isn’t room for extraneous stuff.
But no matter how long or short the tale, I want to leave my readers sighing and smiling and wishing the story wasn’t over when they reach the last page. I want to make them happy—and, of course, I want them eagerly coming back for more!
USA Today bestselling author Sally MacKenzie writes funny, hot Regency-set historicals for Kensington’s Zebra line, and her books have been translated into Czech, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian. An Invitation to Sin arrives on bookstore shelves today. A native of Washington, D.C., Sally still lives in suburban Maryland with her husband and whichever of her four sons are stopping back in the nest. To find out more about Sally and her books, visit her website at www.sallymackenzie.net.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)