Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "2013"
Happy New Year!
Just wanted to wish all my followers a very happy 2013.
Thirteen is traditionally thought of as an unlucky number, for example, many people dread Friday 13th as they fear something bad might happen on that day. Did you know that there is an actual phobia called "Triskaidekaphobia", meaning fear of the number 13? I've been having a bit of a read about the number 13, as we've now entered the 13th year of this century, and I've discovered some interesting things.
Oddly enough, More road accidents occur on Friday the 13th than on any other day of the year.
It has been estimated by various sources that U.S. businesses lose millions of dollars because of canceled appointments, absenteeism, etc. on Friday, the 13th.
The ancient Hebrews thought 13 was unlucky because the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the letter M, which is the first letter in the word "mavet," meaning death.
There is a superstition that if 13 people gather, one of them will die within a year. Some French aristocrats would hire themselves out as the fourteenth diner at an event, because it was believed that when thirteen diners sat together, one of them would die. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was quite fearful of the number 13, and he took great pains to avoid hosting a meal for a group of that size.
Scandanavians believed that the number 13 is unlucky due to the mythological 12 demigods being joined by a 13th evil one.
Eerily, 13 turns make a traditional hangman's noose. Anything less would not snap a neck...
A witches coven consists of 13 members.
Streets or housing estates in several countries skip house number 13 as the number is omitted completely.
Hotels will not have a floor 13 and skip from floor 12 to floor 14 due to the universal superstition of bad luck.
Vehicle License plates in the Republic of Ireland are such that the first two digits represent the year of registration of the vehicle (i.e. 11 is a 2011 registered car, 12 is 2012 and so on). The Irish Government last year were considering scraping the number 13 car registrations for cars sold this year, as they feared that it would put people off buying cars. They instead proposed that cars registered between January and the end of June will have a '131' registration. Those from July 1 to the end of the year should have '132' on the plate. I'm not sure whether this proposal finally went ahead, but it was certainly seriously considered.
In a tarot card deck, XIII is the card of Death, usually picturing the Pale horse with its rider.
In Formula One, the number 13 is not used. As such, the numbering goes 11, 12, 14, 15 under the current numbering system.
So, it appears that there is a lot of superstition surrounding the number 13. It's not all bad, though. In some cultures 13 is actually considered to be a lucky number. For example, in Italy. Some people even have 13 tattooed onto them to represent the lucky number. (Although in Campania the expression 'tredici' -- meaning 13 -- is said when one considers their luck to have turned for the worse.)
Several successful sports figures have worn the number 13. For example, basketball great Wilt Chamberlain wore the number 13 on his jersey throughout his NBA career.
In rugby league, each side has 13 players on the field at any given time.
In Judaism, 13 signifies the age at which a boy matures and becomes a Bar Mitzvah.
The number 13 in the Coperos religion (small culture in Brazil) is like a God number. All coperos must know that this number can save humankind.
American country-pop singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was born on December 13. She considers 13 her lucky number due to lucky events happening to her when the number appears (her first album going gold in 13 weeks, being seated at awards shows in the 13th seat, row or section). She also wears the number written on her hand at her concerts so she has it with her everywhere she goes.
So, it appears that people around the world cannot make up their minds about this number. It certainly is a number that has somehow captured people's imaginations.
I hope 2013 will be a lucky year for all of you!
Thirteen is traditionally thought of as an unlucky number, for example, many people dread Friday 13th as they fear something bad might happen on that day. Did you know that there is an actual phobia called "Triskaidekaphobia", meaning fear of the number 13? I've been having a bit of a read about the number 13, as we've now entered the 13th year of this century, and I've discovered some interesting things.
Oddly enough, More road accidents occur on Friday the 13th than on any other day of the year.
It has been estimated by various sources that U.S. businesses lose millions of dollars because of canceled appointments, absenteeism, etc. on Friday, the 13th.
The ancient Hebrews thought 13 was unlucky because the thirteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the letter M, which is the first letter in the word "mavet," meaning death.
There is a superstition that if 13 people gather, one of them will die within a year. Some French aristocrats would hire themselves out as the fourteenth diner at an event, because it was believed that when thirteen diners sat together, one of them would die. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was quite fearful of the number 13, and he took great pains to avoid hosting a meal for a group of that size.
Scandanavians believed that the number 13 is unlucky due to the mythological 12 demigods being joined by a 13th evil one.
Eerily, 13 turns make a traditional hangman's noose. Anything less would not snap a neck...
A witches coven consists of 13 members.
Streets or housing estates in several countries skip house number 13 as the number is omitted completely.
Hotels will not have a floor 13 and skip from floor 12 to floor 14 due to the universal superstition of bad luck.
Vehicle License plates in the Republic of Ireland are such that the first two digits represent the year of registration of the vehicle (i.e. 11 is a 2011 registered car, 12 is 2012 and so on). The Irish Government last year were considering scraping the number 13 car registrations for cars sold this year, as they feared that it would put people off buying cars. They instead proposed that cars registered between January and the end of June will have a '131' registration. Those from July 1 to the end of the year should have '132' on the plate. I'm not sure whether this proposal finally went ahead, but it was certainly seriously considered.
In a tarot card deck, XIII is the card of Death, usually picturing the Pale horse with its rider.
In Formula One, the number 13 is not used. As such, the numbering goes 11, 12, 14, 15 under the current numbering system.
So, it appears that there is a lot of superstition surrounding the number 13. It's not all bad, though. In some cultures 13 is actually considered to be a lucky number. For example, in Italy. Some people even have 13 tattooed onto them to represent the lucky number. (Although in Campania the expression 'tredici' -- meaning 13 -- is said when one considers their luck to have turned for the worse.)
Several successful sports figures have worn the number 13. For example, basketball great Wilt Chamberlain wore the number 13 on his jersey throughout his NBA career.
In rugby league, each side has 13 players on the field at any given time.
In Judaism, 13 signifies the age at which a boy matures and becomes a Bar Mitzvah.
The number 13 in the Coperos religion (small culture in Brazil) is like a God number. All coperos must know that this number can save humankind.
American country-pop singer-songwriter Taylor Swift was born on December 13. She considers 13 her lucky number due to lucky events happening to her when the number appears (her first album going gold in 13 weeks, being seated at awards shows in the 13th seat, row or section). She also wears the number written on her hand at her concerts so she has it with her everywhere she goes.
So, it appears that people around the world cannot make up their minds about this number. It certainly is a number that has somehow captured people's imaginations.
I hope 2013 will be a lucky year for all of you!
My favourite book covers of 2013
One of my favourite parts of self-publishing my books is choosing the right cover. In the past I have used my own artwork, or photographs that have caught my eye in some way.
For me, the important thing is that the cover should reflect what is inside the book. I love art and I've always liked browsing bookstores just to look at the book covers. Some of them are very eye-catching and I've sometimes bought a book just because I like the cover so much!
I thought it would be nice as an end of year list to choose my favourite book covers of 2013.
I'm going to include the covers of my books, Delusion and Dreams, and 3, both of which were published this year. I love the photographs on the covers.
Here are my favourites from this year. (I'd also be interested in hearing about yours, so if you have any favourites, please comment with a link so we can all see!)
My Favourite Book Covers of 2013 (in no particular order)
Rise of the Shadow by J. Michael Radcliffe
The Christmas Spirit by Susan Buchanan
13 by Julie Elizabeth Powell
Delusion and Dreams
3
Nine Lives by Terry Tyler
Fastian: An Edgeweir Tale (The Weaver Saga, #1). by Jay Finn
An Eye For An Eye For An Eye by Marc Nash
Nocturnal Embers by Helle Gade
Sandcastle and Other Stories byJustin Bog
The Conversationalist by Justin Bog
A Virtual Love by Andrew Blackman
For me, the important thing is that the cover should reflect what is inside the book. I love art and I've always liked browsing bookstores just to look at the book covers. Some of them are very eye-catching and I've sometimes bought a book just because I like the cover so much!
I thought it would be nice as an end of year list to choose my favourite book covers of 2013.
I'm going to include the covers of my books, Delusion and Dreams, and 3, both of which were published this year. I love the photographs on the covers.
Here are my favourites from this year. (I'd also be interested in hearing about yours, so if you have any favourites, please comment with a link so we can all see!)
My Favourite Book Covers of 2013 (in no particular order)
Rise of the Shadow by J. Michael Radcliffe
The Christmas Spirit by Susan Buchanan
13 by Julie Elizabeth Powell
Delusion and Dreams
3
Nine Lives by Terry Tyler
Fastian: An Edgeweir Tale (The Weaver Saga, #1). by Jay Finn
An Eye For An Eye For An Eye by Marc Nash
Nocturnal Embers by Helle Gade
Sandcastle and Other Stories byJustin Bog
The Conversationalist by Justin Bog
A Virtual Love by Andrew Blackman
TLC's Writers' Conference 2014 - A look at the past 12 months in the publishing industry
At the recent TLC writers' conference there was an interesting discussion chaired by Claire Armitstead of The Guardian about the changes that have occurred in the past 12 months in the book publishing world and a few predictions for the coming year.
Steve Bohme from Nielsen Book started the discussion by providing some figures about books sales and current trends. The information was taken from Book Scan data, which is the long-scale tracking of print book sales. He confirmed that Nielsen will shortly be introducing this for eBooks. Information was also provided by reference to customer surveys about book-buying habits.
Here are some of the results from 2013 (based on UK data):
1. In the UK in 2013 323 million books were bought. The book sales market is stable. There was a 4% decrease in sales overall compared to the previous year, but it's believed that was due to the phenomenal success of 'Fifty Shades' in 2012 boosting sales for that year.
2. There was a decrease of 10% in the amount of printed books bought in 2013 but an increase of 20% in the purchase of eBooks. There is a definite shift in book buying habits from print to digital.
3. Interestingly, there was a 79% increase in purchases of self-published books. In 2013 18 million self-published books were bought. This is a fast growing part of the market.
4. 5% of all books bought last year were self-published (it was pointed out, however, that it is sometimes difficult to track self-published books).
So what types of books are people buying?
Top genres for UK fiction in 2013 were Thrillers overall, whether print, eBook, or self-published.
Overall, the top three genres were: Thrillers, Biography, General Fiction
The least popular overall were Romance, Historical fiction, and Food & Drink
However, things change slightly when you look at just eBooks. The top three popular eBook genres were: Thrillers, General Fiction, and Crime, with the least popular being Erotica, Children's books, Classic literature
There are different results if you just look at the most popular self-published books. Top three: Thrillers, Romance, Crime. The least popular for self-published fiction: Historical fiction, Horror/Ghost stories, Erotica.
How much are people paying for books?
Self-published books have lower prices on average between £3 and £3.99.
eBooks are mostly priced up to £5.99.
Most of the self-published eBooks are priced at around £2.
Most commonly eBooks are being bought for about £1, so probably when there are special deals on Amazon, but there are also quite a lot being bought for between £5 and £5.99.
Discovery of Books - 2013
How do people discover the books they choose to buy?
The most popular way overall is that they have read another book by that author or the book they buy is part of a series. The second most popular is by browsing in a bricks and mortar bookstore. Browsing online comes in third.
Looking at the data for only eBooks (both traditionally published and self-published), the most popular way is the same i.e. the reader has already read another book by the author or the book is part of a series. The second most popular way is browsing online, and interestingly, the third is 'following' the author on social networking sites e.g. Twitter. This shows the importance of authors building a following online.
When you look at how most self-published books are discovered, the most popular way is by readers browsing online. So online presence is very important for self-published authors and their books.
Other popular ways people are discovering books by self-published authors are by recommendations, following the author e.g. on Twitter, and by an advert or book trailer.
Browsing habits and discovery of books
For print books the most popular way people end up buying them is by searching for a specific book.
For eBooks, people browse by author.
For self-published books, people browse the recommendation sections and browse by subject/genre.
The fastest growth in browsing trends is people looking at the offer sections for the best deals in self-published books.
The data shows that planned purchases are less likely for self-published books, the most common factors for someone making the decision to purchase a particular self-published book will be the description, the author, the price.
The fastest growth is in readers becoming more familiar with some self-published authors and going on to purchase another of that author's books.
What influences the decision to buy a book?
Overall the three most popular factors will be 1. Author, 2. Subject, 3. Price
Other factors include, the book being part of a series, the blurb, characters, gift appeal.
For eBooks the findings are the same, except that eBooks are not working as gifts at the moment. Instead another influencing factor there might be the extract that is available online.
For self-published books the top 3 influencing factors are: 1. Price, 2. Blurb, 3. Subject.
Other influencing factors for self-published sales are: the book is part of a series, the reader is familiar with the author, extract available online, characters.
One major growth area is the trend for people buying more book series.
Who is buying books?
Buyer demographic for UK 2013:
60% - female
40% - male
Females over the age of 45 make up 25% of the book buyers.
Looking at the figures for self-published books alone, this changes. 70% of those buying self-published books are females and 32% are over 45.
52% of the buyers of self-published books are heavy readers, those who read lots of books, and they're most likely to try books by less well-known authors.
----------------------
The panel members for the discussion were invited to talk about how the industry has changed in the past 12 months.
James Gill, from United Agents said he thought the past 12 months were characterised by a narrowing of market channels. He thinks that more well-known authors can do well, better than they could have ten years ago, but less well-known authors will do worse than they could have ten years ago.
Stephen Page CEO of Faber & Faber, says the business of publishing is changing and the author has more choices. Self-publishing is a real option.
He says that for the past 20 years the publishing industry was trade-focussed, but this has been changed by the Internet. Now, it's a more customer-focussed industry.
He says that the obscurity factor is the biggest problem for self-published authors. Publishers can help with this because they are skilled in search engine optimisation, packaging, producing multiple formats, creating value to help sell books.
He says that Faber are still investing in authors and pay three million in advances per year.
Diego Marano of Kobo Writing Life said that because of the changes in technology an author/creator can deal directly with consumers and produce a book as good as a trade-published book. The key word is flexibility. He says, publishers wanted to do what they've always done, but that's no longer possible as things are changing. The business should be ready to embrace flexibility.
Some other interesting highlights from the discussion were:
1. Stephen Page wondered whether this is the greatest revolution in the industry since the printing press.
2. Publishers are changing the services they offer. For example, Faber launched a creative writing school 5-6 years ago as a service to writers. He thinks publishers now need to offer more.
3. Self-published books are getting more recognition in the media. For example, The Guardian launched the self-published book of the month.
4. Stephen Page said that the high street trade for publishers doesn't exist anymore, not as it did 20-30 years ago. Some areas of publishing are under threat.
5. Growth over the past year has been seen predominantly in self-published books.
6. Books are now being created in many different formats including as apps.
7. Agents and publishers want books to be commercial. Most 'literary' fiction only sells small numbers unless a book wins a major prize, like the Man Booker Prize and then can sell hundreds of thousands of copies overnight.
8. Traditional publishers are still taking months or years to provide authors with sales data, whereas with self-published books Amazon sales can be seen almost immediately.
-----------------------------
To sum up, the main concerns raised by those on the panel are of a dying high street book market and perhaps technology going too far and changing books into apps and videos rather than written word. On the bright side, there hasn't been a decline in book sales in the UK, people are still reading. A shift from print to digital can be clearly seen, with more recognition for self-published writers.
Steve Bohme from Nielsen Book started the discussion by providing some figures about books sales and current trends. The information was taken from Book Scan data, which is the long-scale tracking of print book sales. He confirmed that Nielsen will shortly be introducing this for eBooks. Information was also provided by reference to customer surveys about book-buying habits.
Here are some of the results from 2013 (based on UK data):
1. In the UK in 2013 323 million books were bought. The book sales market is stable. There was a 4% decrease in sales overall compared to the previous year, but it's believed that was due to the phenomenal success of 'Fifty Shades' in 2012 boosting sales for that year.
2. There was a decrease of 10% in the amount of printed books bought in 2013 but an increase of 20% in the purchase of eBooks. There is a definite shift in book buying habits from print to digital.
3. Interestingly, there was a 79% increase in purchases of self-published books. In 2013 18 million self-published books were bought. This is a fast growing part of the market.
4. 5% of all books bought last year were self-published (it was pointed out, however, that it is sometimes difficult to track self-published books).
So what types of books are people buying?
Top genres for UK fiction in 2013 were Thrillers overall, whether print, eBook, or self-published.
Overall, the top three genres were: Thrillers, Biography, General Fiction
The least popular overall were Romance, Historical fiction, and Food & Drink
However, things change slightly when you look at just eBooks. The top three popular eBook genres were: Thrillers, General Fiction, and Crime, with the least popular being Erotica, Children's books, Classic literature
There are different results if you just look at the most popular self-published books. Top three: Thrillers, Romance, Crime. The least popular for self-published fiction: Historical fiction, Horror/Ghost stories, Erotica.
How much are people paying for books?
Self-published books have lower prices on average between £3 and £3.99.
eBooks are mostly priced up to £5.99.
Most of the self-published eBooks are priced at around £2.
Most commonly eBooks are being bought for about £1, so probably when there are special deals on Amazon, but there are also quite a lot being bought for between £5 and £5.99.
Discovery of Books - 2013
How do people discover the books they choose to buy?
The most popular way overall is that they have read another book by that author or the book they buy is part of a series. The second most popular is by browsing in a bricks and mortar bookstore. Browsing online comes in third.
Looking at the data for only eBooks (both traditionally published and self-published), the most popular way is the same i.e. the reader has already read another book by the author or the book is part of a series. The second most popular way is browsing online, and interestingly, the third is 'following' the author on social networking sites e.g. Twitter. This shows the importance of authors building a following online.
When you look at how most self-published books are discovered, the most popular way is by readers browsing online. So online presence is very important for self-published authors and their books.
Other popular ways people are discovering books by self-published authors are by recommendations, following the author e.g. on Twitter, and by an advert or book trailer.
Browsing habits and discovery of books
For print books the most popular way people end up buying them is by searching for a specific book.
For eBooks, people browse by author.
For self-published books, people browse the recommendation sections and browse by subject/genre.
The fastest growth in browsing trends is people looking at the offer sections for the best deals in self-published books.
The data shows that planned purchases are less likely for self-published books, the most common factors for someone making the decision to purchase a particular self-published book will be the description, the author, the price.
The fastest growth is in readers becoming more familiar with some self-published authors and going on to purchase another of that author's books.
What influences the decision to buy a book?
Overall the three most popular factors will be 1. Author, 2. Subject, 3. Price
Other factors include, the book being part of a series, the blurb, characters, gift appeal.
For eBooks the findings are the same, except that eBooks are not working as gifts at the moment. Instead another influencing factor there might be the extract that is available online.
For self-published books the top 3 influencing factors are: 1. Price, 2. Blurb, 3. Subject.
Other influencing factors for self-published sales are: the book is part of a series, the reader is familiar with the author, extract available online, characters.
One major growth area is the trend for people buying more book series.
Who is buying books?
Buyer demographic for UK 2013:
60% - female
40% - male
Females over the age of 45 make up 25% of the book buyers.
Looking at the figures for self-published books alone, this changes. 70% of those buying self-published books are females and 32% are over 45.
52% of the buyers of self-published books are heavy readers, those who read lots of books, and they're most likely to try books by less well-known authors.
----------------------
The panel members for the discussion were invited to talk about how the industry has changed in the past 12 months.
James Gill, from United Agents said he thought the past 12 months were characterised by a narrowing of market channels. He thinks that more well-known authors can do well, better than they could have ten years ago, but less well-known authors will do worse than they could have ten years ago.
Stephen Page CEO of Faber & Faber, says the business of publishing is changing and the author has more choices. Self-publishing is a real option.
He says that for the past 20 years the publishing industry was trade-focussed, but this has been changed by the Internet. Now, it's a more customer-focussed industry.
He says that the obscurity factor is the biggest problem for self-published authors. Publishers can help with this because they are skilled in search engine optimisation, packaging, producing multiple formats, creating value to help sell books.
He says that Faber are still investing in authors and pay three million in advances per year.
Diego Marano of Kobo Writing Life said that because of the changes in technology an author/creator can deal directly with consumers and produce a book as good as a trade-published book. The key word is flexibility. He says, publishers wanted to do what they've always done, but that's no longer possible as things are changing. The business should be ready to embrace flexibility.
Some other interesting highlights from the discussion were:
1. Stephen Page wondered whether this is the greatest revolution in the industry since the printing press.
2. Publishers are changing the services they offer. For example, Faber launched a creative writing school 5-6 years ago as a service to writers. He thinks publishers now need to offer more.
3. Self-published books are getting more recognition in the media. For example, The Guardian launched the self-published book of the month.
4. Stephen Page said that the high street trade for publishers doesn't exist anymore, not as it did 20-30 years ago. Some areas of publishing are under threat.
5. Growth over the past year has been seen predominantly in self-published books.
6. Books are now being created in many different formats including as apps.
7. Agents and publishers want books to be commercial. Most 'literary' fiction only sells small numbers unless a book wins a major prize, like the Man Booker Prize and then can sell hundreds of thousands of copies overnight.
8. Traditional publishers are still taking months or years to provide authors with sales data, whereas with self-published books Amazon sales can be seen almost immediately.
-----------------------------
To sum up, the main concerns raised by those on the panel are of a dying high street book market and perhaps technology going too far and changing books into apps and videos rather than written word. On the bright side, there hasn't been a decline in book sales in the UK, people are still reading. A shift from print to digital can be clearly seen, with more recognition for self-published writers.
