David Gaughran's Blog, page 25

John Locke Signs Print Distribution Deal With Simon & Schuster

John Locke - the first self-publisher to join the Kindle Million Club - has signed a print distribution deal with Simon & Schuster.

Naturally, there has been some hysterical reaction either painting John Locke a "sell out", or declaring that this deal is proof that self-publishing is a flash in the pan and that traditional publishing is where it's at.

Neither is close to being true.

First of all, and most importantly, John Locke is not giving up any rights. He has not signed a "publishing"...

A Sneak Preview: Chapter 1 of A Storm Hits Valparaíso

I want to give you a sneak preview of my upcoming novel, which has the working title of A Storm Hits Valparaíso. I'm currently on the final pass, but it's quite convoluted and could take a month or two before it is ready for the editor.

I started writing this in 2006. It was a classic case of an inexperienced writer biting off far more than he can chew. It has seven main characters who all start in different locations and their narrative strands gradually interweave.

In technical terms, it's...

Why The Digital Revolution Threatens Large Publishers

I think I've made a robust case for a digital future, but I'm less sure I've convincingly explained why the digital revolution threatens large publishers.

In Thursday's post, we looked at the recent BookStats survey of the American publishing industry. Some are touting its results as evidence that publishing is in rude health.

I argued that the report only covers the very beginning of the e-book explosion that began late last year which has radically changed the marketplace, and which will...

Publishing: Not In Such Bad Shape After All?

The long-awaited BookStats report has been released, leading some to immediately conclude that publishing is actually in pretty good shape – despite the doom-mongering from certain quarters (such as, I suppose, from me).

In case you don't know, BookStats is the most comprehensive survey of the US publishing industry to date, produced jointly by the Book Industry Study Group and the American Association of Publishers (AAP) – collating data from nearly 2,000 publishers, large and small.

I'm not g...

Word-of-Mouth In Action

Word-of-mouth is the only thing that ever really sells books.

While a glowing review in the New York Times will undoubtedly shift some copies, if the limited amount of people that actually read the reviews (and then purchase the book), don't then spread the word, the sales bump will be temporary.

The 21st century world-weary reader is a hard person to reach. Our environment has become so saturated with advertisements that we tend to tune them out. Broadcasters need to resort to tricks like...

The Importance of Being Edited

One of the major arguments put forward in favor of going the traditional route – and one of the most appealing to writers – is the advance. I have a guest post on the blog of bestselling UK author Mark Williams which examines what the advance really costs you and how you can beat it long-term even with modest self-publishing sales.

An accompanying – and in my opinion more valid – argument centers on the professional experience and support a writer will get from a publishing house, especially i...

Apple's Lawyers Get Busy

Apple became the world's most valuable company for a brief period yesterday, overtaking Exxon whose value had dipped on the back of the depressed oil prices.

Those two should continue to duke it out as Apple posts record results, and oil prices inevitably rise.

However, Apple's celebrations may have been short-lived as Amazon came up with a clever way to circumvent their rules on in-app purchases.

Today, Amazon released the Kindle Cloud Reader. Essentially, this is a snazzy version of the...

How To Keep An Open Mind

The publishing industry is changing at the speed of light. The massive disruption caused by the killer combination of e-books, the internet, the Kindle, and open distribution systems like Amazon have changed the business forever.

Disruption on this scale is never pretty. Businesses will go under. People will lose their jobs. Many writers will struggle to adapt to change. Others will find opportunities and thrive.

To ensure you are in the latter group, you must continually challenge your...

Sunday Roundup: Blog Anniversary, New Releases, and a Link Party

My blog is four months old today! I just passed 50,000 views the other day (the only metric I get), so that's quite a milestone. 25,000 of those views were in July, so it's going really well.

I often get emails asking me how I drove so much traffic to the blog in such a short space of time, so I have placed an excerpt from the blogging chapter of Let's Get Digital along the top navigation bar, where you can also find further excerpts, as well as additional information, on pricing, formatting, ...

Indie Author Scott Nicholson Signs Two-Book Deal With Amazon

Scott Nicholson has been picked up by Amazon's increasingly busy imprint Thomas & Mercer. He signed a two-book deal which will include his self-published title, Liquid Fear, and the forthcoming sequel, Chronic Fear.

Both will be released by Amazon on December 20 this year.

Summer is traditionally a slow period in publishing. Not for Thomas & Mercer, who have also snapped up Michael Wallace and J Carson Black in the last ten days, adding them to their earlier batch of summer signings JA...