Jane Friedman's Blog: Jane Friedman, page 65

Structure Isn’t the Holy Grail You’re Looking For

“scaffolding at the hagia sophia” by saragoldsmith is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Today’s guest post is by writer, coach and editor Lisa Cooper Ellison (@lisaellisonspen). Join her on Nov. 17 for the online class Find the Memoir Structure That Works for You.

It’s Tuesday at 4:30 PM. A writer’s name flashes across my Zoom screen.

As we begin her free consultation, she tells me about the harrowing memoir she plans to write. The project is her first book, and she’s not sure where to begin.

After a five-minute banter about the writing process, she says, “Can you tell me how to structure my memoir?”

As I craft a reply to this frequently asked question she leans in, waiting, perhaps even hoping and praying, that I’ll share the secret that easily and efficiently unlocks her project’s genius.

I understand because I repeatedly asked the same question early in my writing process.

At the time, I thought structure was the holy grail of storytelling. Like the characters in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, all I had to do was choose wisely. Complete the task and I’d soon double fist the prizes ever writer seeks: the ecstasy of having written and the pride of holding my published book. Fail and the bones of my project might crumble, right along with my motivation.

Unfortunately, structure isn’t the storytelling holy grail.

It’s just one of many important components.

Think of a completed memoir as a dwelling with scenes and exposition as the building blocks. Chapters are the rooms. Structure is the frame that holds it together. Your narrative arc is the blueprint that guides construction and determines your structure.

In real life, blueprints are created long before construction begins.

But memoir writing is an iterative process that begins with Anne Lamott’s shitty first draft and then slowly develops and deepens. The early stages in this process sometimes feel like building a skyscraper with nothing but air. No wonder writers seek a structure to hold onto!

So how do you keep from white knuckling your way through an early draft?

As I look back at what I needed—and what my clients now crave—it’s scaffolding, not capital S structure.

In construction, scaffolding is a temporary structure that supports the work on a building whether it’s new walls, repairs, or cleaning. Once the work is complete, the scaffolds are removed.

Here are a few scaffolds that can support your first-draft efforts.

Scaffold #1: Choose a time in your life, not your whole life

While autobiography covers a life from birth to death, memoir is about one experience.

Marion Roach Smith says it this way: memoir is about what you know after what you’ve been through.

Break your life into epic moments—an odd career, a monumental journey, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a loss that changed everything.

Your first draft should be about one of these things and the lessons you learned.

Scaffold #2: Establish a timeline

You’ll be tempted to start at age three on that formative day when someone stole your cookie. No matter how delicious the cookie, refrain from doing this. Instead, begin at the point when you first noticed the problem. Unless you’re writing a coming-of-age story, it’s likely this event took place in adulthood.

For example, in The Suicide Index, Joan Wickersham’s problem is creating order around her father’s suicide. While earlier life events affect the way she responds to this family tragedy, she begins with her father’s death—the day her problem first occurred.

Once you’ve established a beginning, select an ending.

Journeys and time-limited events often have clear endings. For example, Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild ends when she completes her trek along the Pacific Crest Trail. Carmen Maria Machado’s book In the Dream House follows the rise and fall of an abusive relationship.

If your ending isn’t clear, you can create a time marker, like Joan Didion does in The Year of Magical Thinking, the memoir she wrote about grieving during the first year after her husband’s death. 

If your final moment isn’t definitive, and a time marker doesn’t work, identify the first instance when you experienced peace, and let that serve as your first-draft ending. At this point, don’t worry about pinning down the perfect scene. Instead, choose a “good enough” ending—one that results in a completed draft. Once you solidify your narrative arc, you’ll find the right ending for your book.

Scaffold #3: Choose plain over fancy

Maybe you read In the Dream House, The Fact of a Body, or Safekeeping and thought I want to do that. I get it. These books are elegantly arranged, and perhaps you’re a writer who can also pull this off.

But few writers begin with an elegant, or fancy, structure. More often, it’s something they discover after many drafts and years of hard work.

For a first draft, stick with a linear, chronological structure and minimize flashbacks. I suggest this for two reasons. Flashbacks by their nature occur out of order. Once you accumulate hundreds of pages, it can be easy to forget where you placed them.

And, while you might think a flashback juxtaposes nicely with a certain scene, flashbacks only work if they tell us something about the character that’s immediately relevant to the story. In a first draft, those insights are rare.

Scaffold #4: Let your mind wander

I know, I told you not to start your book with the cookie. But sometimes your brain reallyreallyreally wants to write about the cookie.

So, write about the cookie, and the time you fell out of the tree, and even your first kiss.

Your unconscious is a wise creative ally that frequently learns through association. It also knows the things you need to work through so you can truly understand your story. Some of the moments you’ll feel compelled to write about will ultimately belong in your manuscript, but others are just prewriting. Instead of adding them to the timeline you’ve already established, keep them in a separate file that’s also ordered chronologically. This will prevent you from becoming overly attached to them. It will also dampen your compulsion to begin with that cookie.

Scaffold #5: Give up the dream of having written

Holding a completed manuscript is a delicious, soul-satisfying state. If I could bottle it, my life would be complete. But focusing on the dream of having written leads to impatience. It’s the number one reason why writers ask so many questions about structure. Instead, embrace the process and scaffold your way to a first draft. Once you’ve achieved this goal, you’ll be one step closer to understanding and identifying your memoir’s structure.

Note from Jane: If you enjoyed this post, please join Lisa on Nov. 17 for the online class Find the Memoir Structure That Works for You.

Does the Idea of Promoting Your Book Make You Feel Queasy?

Photo by Ryanniel Masucol from Pexels

Today’s post is by author, podcaster, and speaker Lizbeth Meredith (@LizbethMeredith).

At every writer’s conference, I see fledgling authors roll up their sleeves when told well-established truths on writing:

Writing is important.

Make it a priority.

Schedule time for writing every day, or as regularly as possible.

But when they’re exhorted to market their books?

Pearl clutch.

While a small group of enthusiasts may swap tips between sessions, the attitude of far too many—especially authors who fancy themselves literary—is that the promo piece is unsavory. They’re too important, and drumming up their own book buzz feels beneath them. (“Isn’t that someone else’s job?”)

Or they’re too introverted. Too icked-out by the idea of becoming a self-promoter.

The problem? Their books join the other million-plus published annually that don’t find their forever home in the hands of the right readers.

In his March 2021 interview on The Creative Penn podcast, author Steven Pressfield told host Joanna Penn that he’s spent as much time mastering book marketing as he does writing books. If he didn’t, he’d need to simply stop publishing books. (For those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading his work, try The Legend of Bagger Vance or Turning Pro). This legendary author, whose books have had both critical and popular acclaim, acknowledged that without gaining some marketing muscle, his career could be dead in the water.

When I first began my author marketing journey, I assumed I needed to be funny or outgoing or remarkable somehow to succeed. And while on a good day I could fake it til I made it and nail one or so of the qualities, it felt inauthentic and forced. It was unsustainable, and I had an emotional hangover afterward.

But I was committed to getting my work into the hands of readers. Not only did it take eons to write my book, but I’d committed money I didn’t really have to hire a PR team. After spending several thousand dollars to get the normal 180-day campaign that still relied on me to pick up the baton once the contract ended, I had to face facts: I could live with some new debt that would soon be multiplying, or I could learn how to do my job.

As an author, marketing your work will always be your job. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

Author and speaker Dale Carnegie taught long ago that we become more interesting when we’re interested in other people. It’s a perfect message for us self-conscious authors who worry we’ll need to constantly toot our own horn and be obnoxious after the book is published. No, that’s not what marketing is.

Give up trying to dazzle potential readers and replace those efforts with making a contribution to the community. When I started taking this approach instead, I realized how much more fun book marketing could be. I gave up the misplaced fears that other authors were my competition, and found ways to elevate their work as part of my own marketing. I might have a Facebook Live event for their new launch, or agree to be an early reviewer for their pre-order campaign. I help writers who needed sources to finish their work, whether or not that provides me with more sales. I also took Amy Porterfield’s Digital Course Academy to learn more about marketing essentials and became a Help a Reporter Out warrior.

While it would be terrific if we could all get a BookBub deal out of the chute and end up on a bestseller list soon after our books are published, we can take a deep breath, recognize this is a marathon and not a race, and start to enjoy the process. Enjoy serving. Serve readers. Serve other writers. Serve your community with your writing. And enjoy being a part of a supportive writing community that can last and pay dividends, long after the book royalty checks have begun to dwindle.

Today, I tell my own book marketing students that book marketing deserves their time and resources as much as writing does. It’s both a skill and a practice.

Marketing is important.

Make it a priority.

Schedule time for marketing every day, or as regularly as possible.

NaNoWriMo: How to Fly by the Seat of Your Pants—and Win

Photo by Jens Johnsson from Pexels

Today’s post is by author and book coach Stephanie Bourbon (@StephOBourbon).

When I first did NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2006, I started with nothing but a book title. That’s a little too much pantsing even for me. But I did land an agent and got published through a small publishing house, and that gave me confidence to come back every year to NaNoWriMo and blast out a first draft. And I always “win.” I have written 15 books and over 1 million words during NaNoWriMo. (Although I don’t love to call it winning—we are all fantastic!)

Do I spend months plotting? Do I have it all worked out before I put pen to paper? I must not have a job? Clearly, I sit and write hours every day to finish every time, right?

Nope.

I work full time, I have two dogs and a husband. Here is my secret.

How you can “win” as a pantser

If you’re a pantser, that means you are flying by the seat of your pants, dodging problems or lobbing them away as they arrive. There is a myth about us pantsers that we don’t have any idea what we’re doing, but usually we do.

I’m a true pantser, and for me, it works. I know that for others it ends up a big old mess. Think of it like this: Some people need to follow recipes, and others, like me, just toss ingredients together and have a Chef Ramsey-esque meal. Okay, well, maybe not that good, but you get the point.

Not all of the novels I have finished during NaNo are published or even great. Some are in fact a mess. It happens. But, I have finished novels each time, which is the goal.

Your goal is 50,000 words or more, and this is all about the math: 50,000 divided by 30 is 1,667 words a day, which is just over an hour if you write at an average speed. Drop Thanksgiving, and it’s 1,724 words, which is doable for most writers. So don’t think of it as 50,000 words; think of it as a daily goal of 1,724 words. Then:

Identify a time of day to write that is realistic. For example, if you can’t write for an hour or two every morning, don’t assume you will magically make up the time elsewhere in November. Instead, choose a time or times that work every day.Have accountability buddies or at least one writer who will cheer you on. The first time I did it, I met a friend of mine in Starbucks once a day, and we talked about our stories as we went.Post about your goals on social media. This also helps you stay on track.Plan to finish before November 30. That way you won’t be too behind if something comes up.Know these things before you start

This should take you about ten minutes to write down, even if you are pantsing.

WHO is your story about? What does she want, need, or desire?WHAT happens in the story? Does she discover that her husband has a secret? Does she find out she’s a wizard? Does she have to go back to a small town filled with only gorgeous available partners ready to settle down?HOW does it end? Know the ending or have a solid idea for the ending.The PREMISE: A strong premise will practically write itself. Steve Kaplan talks about the power of premise in his comedy writing workshop and his book The Hidden Tools of Comedy. I highly recommend it.Additional main characters: the love interest, the best friend, the nemesis.

When you know these things, you can write all the way through your novel and finish it on time. If you want to plan a little more, you can go a few small steps forward and know these story beats.

THE BEGINNING: How does it open?THE INCITING INCIDENT: What happens to launch the story forward?THE NEW WORLD: Where does the story take place?THE MIDDLE TURNING POINT: What decision is made?THE CRISIS: What happens that sends your main character into her “all is lost” moment?THE CLIMAX: How does it all come to a head?THE RESOLUTION: This is your ending.What holds most writers back

EDITING as you go.

Write forward, always. Write new pages, no matter what. There are two reasons for this.

You won’t finish if you keep going back to change things. This is also why I pants because when I have a detailed outline, I don’t stick to it. The characters want to go their own way. (However, at the end of a writing day, I will write out on a notecard what will happen in the next chapter.)Many writers I work with, or have been critique partners with, get stuck on the words. They forget that they are telling a story.Story is first

Focus on telling a great story and forget about being a good writer, and you will be golden. If you remember anything from this, remember that. I like to call this my wedding cake writing theory.

When you make a cake, you have the flour, the eggs, the water, the oil. You mix these ingredients, and then you add flavors like chocolate and spices—then bake it. This is what NaNoWriMo is all about.

When you continue to edit or go back and make sure each word is perfect, that’s like the little silver ball on top of the rose on top of the base on top of the grenache on top of the icing on top of the top layer, which is on top of the other layer, etc. Don’t focus on the little silver ball. Focus on the mixing and baking.

A final note

NaNoWriMo is a great place to write a first draft, and it will need revision. This is when I do extensive outlining, actually. After I have the first draft, I let it sit for December. Then in January, I outline it using Martha Alderson’s Plot Whisperer method and Lisa Cron’s Wired For Story and Story Genius for character.

Understand and know that you will revise, and it will give you the freedom to make mistakes. Your draft won’t be perfect, but done is better than not done. Please don’t query your NaNo novel in December. It’s not ready.

In the comments, I’d love to hear about your experiences flying by the seat of your pants during NaNoWriMo!

Use Your Analyzer Switch to Increase Productivity

Photo by Dmitry Demidov from Pexels

Today’s post is by author, editor and coach Jessica Conoley (@jaconoley).

Every writer’s brain contains an analyzer switch. The switch regulates analytical thinking, which is the part of brain that dissects drafts and figures out how to improve projects during revisions. Conversely, it regulates ideaphoria—which is the quality that helps us bang out a first draft in record time because ideas are flowing at an exponential rate.

Most of us have no idea the switch is there. We assume our brain is hardwired at its current static setting. This assumption keeps us saying things like, “I love drafting, but revisions are the worst!” While our critique partner says, “First drafts are stab-my-face-off awful to write. I can’t wait until I have enough words to start revising.” We mope over the skills we seemingly don’t possess (which others have clearly been naturally blessed with), which slows our writing process and triggers a slew of mindset issues.

If any of this sounds familiar, and you wish you could amp up your ideaphoria or analytical abilities, I’ve got great news for you. Your brain isn’t hardwired, it’s fancy and neuroplastic. Therefore, you can improve the weaker side of your writing practice by consciously adjusting the setting on your analyzer.

To adjust your analyzer

All you need is a little imagination with a touch of visualization.

Imagine your analyzer switch. Maybe it’s a round knob like the kind that turns on your dining room light, or a stereo volume dial, or some other type of dimmer switch. Mine looks like a soundboard with sliding levers that move up or down. The important part is this is NOT an ON/OFF toggle switch.Decide the appropriate setting for the type of writing task you are getting ready to work on.Visualize adjusting your dial to the setting. For me that looks like sliding the levers all the way up to engage my analyzer. When I slide them all the way down, I’m at the 100% ideaphoria setting.

This takes less than ten seconds to do and can profoundly impact your productivity.

My default falls to the 95% analytical side of the spectrum. The highly analytical side is great when I’m editing, and awful when I’m drafting. When I began turning down my analyzer before drafting sessions, I found my inner critic was muted and my compulsive need to stop, re-read, and assess the quality of my words was mitigated exponentially.

My prolific page count clients default to a high ideaphoria setting. After implementing analyzer adjustments before they write, they have shared revisions are much more palatable and efficient.

How to use your analyzer settings

Turn your analyzer up/decrease ideaphoria when you:

Need to cut word countResearchCopy-editRead to study/improve craft

Turn your analyzer down/increase ideaphoria when you:

Need to increase word countDraft fresh contentBrainstormOver-think to the point of paralysis and need to get unstuck

Set your analyzer somewhere in the middle when you:

Re-read a draft you’ve set aside for some timeBeta readPlot/OutlineTry out a new genre or form of writing

Because you’re a writer I know you have the creative ability to experiment with this very simple exercise.

Scientifically the visualization primes your mind to work in a certain brain-space, cues your body that it is time to get to work, and empowers you to take ownership of your ability to learn and modify your behaviors. You’re reinforcing a growth mindset which is key in your evolution as a writer.

Let me know how adjusting your analyzer worked for you. If you find a certain task benefits from turning your switch up or down, please share in the comments below.

Business Bootcamps for Writers: Join Me Next Week!

Next week, I am delighted to be moderating two panels in partnership with The Authors Guild Foundation on paths to publication, which are part of a larger series, Business Bootcamps for Writers.

All sessions are free to the public; you do not have to be a member of Authors Guild to register. And yes, these sessions will be recorded and available afterward if you can’t make the live event.

Paths to Publication: Traditional and Small Press

Traditional publishers provide you with cachet, a brick-and-mortar presence, and of course, an advance. For many authors, the preferred path to publication is through one of the large houses or a respected small press, even as these paths become harder to navigate. This panel will discuss the current landscape of traditional publishing, such as how to submit your work with or without an agent, what to expect from the editorial process, and how much marketing support a small or large press should provide.

Panelists include:

Mary Gannon, Executive Director, Council of Literary Magazines and PressesJudy Hottensen, Associate Publisher, Grove AtlanticVivian Lee, Senior Editor at Little, BrownAnne Trubek, Founder and Director, Belt PublishingHoward Yoon, Ross Yoon AgencyRegister for freePaths to Publication: Alternatives to Traditional Publishing

In today’s marketplace, many authors with important voices and stories are reaching their readers by self-publishing (also called indie publishing) models where authors manage every aspect of publishing their books—whether by hiring experts for the myriad tasks involved or doing it all themselves. We’ll discuss the various online platforms available to authors to publish in ebook, print, and audiobook formats; working with freelance editors, book designers, and other service providers; as well as methods of distributing and promoting your own work. We will also cover working with hybrid publishers (which take on the production and distribution of a book like a traditional publisher but ask the author to share in production costs in exchange for a greater share of any profit), and how to identify reputable hybrid publishers and avoid those trying to take advantage of authors.

Panelists include:

Tara Cremin, Director, Kobo Writing LifeDarien Hsu Gee, authorMark Leslie Lefebvre, Director of Business Development, Draft2DigitalL. Penelope, authorBrooke Warner, Publisher, She Writes PressRegister for freeTake a look at more wonderful sessions

The Authors Guild Foundation is hosting even more business bootcamps for writers this fall: Review the full schedule.

Book Printing 101: What You Need to Know Before Approaching a Printer

“2013-01-08: (08/365) Book Binding P1220749” by lundyd is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Note from Jane: Today’s post is excerpted from the book Cover to Cover by Andrew Watson, a comprehensive guide to self-publishing a print book or ebook, mainly for those in Australia. However, the book printing information below is applicable to any author who wants to invest in a print run for their book.

Keep in mind that, due to the pandemic (and other factors), the market right now is very tight for paper and printing, with long lead times and increased pricing. Plan far in advance if you have a specific release date in mind.

Choosing the right materials for your book, and the right printer, is more important than you might think. They will not only affect its physical appearance but also influence a potential customer’s perception of value for money. You’ll also need to know exactly what to ask for when requesting and receiving quotes from a printer whether near you or overseas.

Everything below should be regarded as general guidance only. There will, inevitably, be variations depending on what is available at the time and the technical preferences of your nominated printer. When in doubt, always get a sample.

Depending on where your printer is based, they may express a paper’s weight in pounds per ream (#), grams per square meter (gsm), or points (pt). In this article, we’ve provided US and rest-of-world equivalents.

Note also that papers manufactured for different purposes utilize different systems of measurement. For example, a 100# cover stock is much heavier and more rigid than a 100# text stock.

Text paper

Generally, paper used for the text pages in a typical book will be either coated or uncoated. A coated paper has had a fine layer of china clay or a similar synthetic substance applied to make a smooth, sealed surface. Uncoated papers are, for the most part, everything else.

Gloss, art, satin, semi-matte and matte papers are all coated stocks. The principle is the same for all of them—ink sits on the surface of the paper rather than being allowed to soak in or spread. This allows for precise color registration and enables high quality image reproduction. For this reason coated paper is nearly always white. Indeed, many books that appear to use cream-coated stock are actually white with the non-illustrated areas printed in a light cream color from edge to edge.

The process of applying the coating on both sides tends to flatten the fibers so, although coated papers might have exactly the same weight as uncoated ones, they are noticeably thinner. This, in turn, means a book with coated paper will be considerably slimmer than one with the same page extent using uncoated paper and this may affect the customer’s perception of value for money. Publishers often try to compensate by using heavier gloss paper (from, say, a standard 90 or 100 gsm/60# or 70# stock up to 120 gsm/80# or greater) but this can make the book much heavier and is something to consider if large quantities are being sent by ordinary mail.

Uncoated papers, apart from being, you know, uncoated, come in an extraordinary range of weights and thicknesses and shades of white and cream. They are non-reflective and eminently suitable for a wide variety of uses in book production. They can be as thin as tissue for Bibles and large reference books (literally known as bible paper), all the way up to almost card-like quality for children’s picture books.

Generally, weight corresponds to thickness—the heavier the paper, the fatter it is, but some lightweight stocks leave the fibers deliberately fluffed up to make the paper seem thicker. This ‘bulky’ paper is frequently used in mass market novels to give the appearance of greater value for money.

Weights of text stock can vary between 70 gsm and 120 gsm/50# and 80#. A consideration here is the potential for show-through which occurs when printed matter on one side of a page is clearly visible on the reverse side. This is less likely to happen with coated stock but it can be problematic with lower weights of uncoated paper. If you are unsure about choosing a paper stock for this reason you should ask your printer for recommendations and obtain samples of pages printed on different weights of paper.

All this is, of course, assuming that your nominated printer will actually allow you to choose your own paper. Many do not, primarily because they purchase a small range of paper types in bulk which they then allocate to specific formats of book. Digital printers, in particular, will only use one
or two types of paper for black and white production (eg. 80 gsm or 90 gsm/55# or 60#) and will only increase the weight if the book contains ink-heavy color pages. Choice of paper stock may also be determined by whether your printer uses a sheet-fed machine (eg. single sheets of paper) or a large web-offset machine fed by large rolls of paper.

Paperback cover

Ideally, card for paperback (sometimes called limp or softback) covers should be between 240 gsm and 270 gsm/12 pt. and 15 pt. Outside this range the book can become either too floppy or stiff and awkward to open. Again, it is advisable to obtain a sample of the material to be absolutely sure it is what you want.

Hardback cover

A hardback (or cased) cover has four main components: the board itself, endpapers which help to attach the board to the block of pages, the board covering, and the dustjacket. In the past the board covering would have been thin leather or a textured material but is it much more common now for it to be a printed paper covering which replicates the dustjacket or perhaps eliminates the need for a jacket altogether.

Board: Normally formed from grey card, kraft board or mill board. The most suitable weight is around 40 oz (1800 gsm/100 pt.) but can range between 16 oz (1000 gsm/55 pt.) and 48 oz (2200 gsm/120 pt.). Boards may warp if they contain too much moisture when the endpapers are attached and then dry out. This frequently happens when the grain of the endpaper runs in the same direction as the grain in the board instead of being applied at a right angle.

Endpapers: These are usually around 110 gsm/75# although the thickness may depend on the book’s weight and format size. They help to attach the book block to the board and so the material used has to be sufficiently robust. They can be left plain or printed with an illustration or a patterned design or a block of color. There was once a craze for unusual types of endpaper, such as marbled patterns or recycled papers embedded with flecks of rag or other unbleached materials but, trust me, your printer will not thank you for specifying these and will probably charge extra for the manual work involved in attaching them.

Board covering: There are three ways to go with this: a reconstituted or synthetic leather lookalike, a lightly textured cloth material, or a fully printed paper covering (or PPC). In the past the cloth would have been dyed but it is now more likely to be a basic white material printed with whatever color you desire. Paper for a PPC cover should be around 260 gsm/90# but can be anywhere in the 210 gsm to 270 gsm/80# to 100# range. A leather-like or cloth cover would normally be embossed on the spine with at least the title, author name and publisher’s logo. 

Dustjacket: Ideally no less than 128 gsm/90#. And, as with endpapers, the size and format of the book will affect the weight—the heavier the book, the heavier the dustjacket, so anywhere up to 160 gsm/110# would be acceptable. As with the cover, the dustjacket will probably be laminated so the actual thickness will increase anyway.

Printing options

While options are now endless, in broad terms, there are only two methods you to need to know about: offset and digital.

Offset

In the lithographic offset process, whole pages containing text and images are transferred either by photographic means onto thin, flexible printing plates, or ‘burned’ onto the plates by laser directly from a computer file (computer-to-plate or CTP). If necessary, a separate plate is produced for each of the four primary printing colors (CMYK) which, when combined, produce full color images. (See color below)

Each plate is wrapped around a cylinder and inked as it revolves. The plate is then pressed onto a
revolving rubber cylinder which applies the ink to a sheet (sheet-fed) or a large roll (web-offset)
of paper as it travels through the machine. The plates are usually metallic or made from a plasticized material and would wear out quickly if in direct contact with the paper, hence the offsetting.

Digital

This can take many forms but the most common is a hugely scaled-up form of an office laser printer where text paper is fed at high speed through a machine from a large roll. The image is taken from a computer file and applied almost magically by ink or fine powder. The paper is then cut into double-sided pages as it emerges from the end of the machine.

This method is ideal for producing small quantities of books at the outset and then reprints of almost any quantity. Once the text and cover files have been loaded into the machine, there are no further set-up costs, in comparison to platemaking and machine make-ready for the offset process which, generally, have to be completed each time there is a printing. Moreover, it significantly reduces the financial ‘risk’ associated with printing a large quantity of copies prior to publication. Only a small number need to be printed and stock replenished as orders are received. This is commonly referred to as print-on-demand or POD publishing.

Color

In conventional offset printing only sheets that actually contain color images are printed in CMYK, all other pages are printed in black (a ‘monochrome’) as usual. Color illustrations may sometimes be grouped onto a separate set of pages and printed on gloss rather than the normal text stock.

In digital printing it is more than likely that a whole book will be run through a full color machine, irrespective of the number of pages that contain color images or other graphics, or where they might fall in the text.

Choosing a printer

Most medium to large general printers will assure you they can produce books. By this they usually mean they can print the sheets that make up the pages. Whether they are capable of following through with all the remaining ‘finishing’ tasks of folding, collating, trimming, and binding is another matter. Some may well have the necessary equipment but, in reality, most will outsource some or all of these tasks. This may cause problems when it comes to quality assurance and scheduling. Your book is likely to join a long queue where it will be a one-off minnow in a large ocean dominated by big-fish publishers producing, say, thousands of hardback dictionaries or books about football champions. Unless tightly monitored, this has serious implications for scheduling.

Printers overseas, particularly ones in South East Asian countries, rarely have this problem because more often than not they have their own paperback and hardback manufacturing facilities in-house—or at least a good relationship with an associated company.

Indeed, it is worth considering whether you should print overseas. It is not as difficult as you might imagine, especially if you use a reputable broker. They will guide you through the entire process and arrange all aspects of production for you, from checking the computer files to proofing to delivery. Obviously, it will take longer because of extra shipping and customs clearance (up to an additional two months) but there are significant cost advantages.

BrokersPrintNinja is a major international print broker which sources its products from companies in China. Although its head office is in the US, it services clients worldwide via a comprehensive website and has production and logistics teams based in Shenzhen.KHL is a large printer in Singapore offering a wide range of services, from short-run digital to large format books in full color.Getting a printer quotation

To get an accurate cost quotation from a printer, you will need to provide some basic details of your project, usually by completing an online enquiry form. Bear in mind that the range of paper types and finished format sizes may be limited if you are planning to print digitally.

Book titleCopies: Total quantity requiredExtent: Total number of pages including blanksSize: Trimmed page dimensionsFormat: Paperback or hardback? Portrait or landscape?Binding: Section-sewn, notch-bound or perfect-bound? (Your printer can recommend what’s best for your book.)Paperback cover: Weight and matte or gloss finish?Case covering: Cloth or printed paper?Printed cover: PPC or dust jacket?Color pages: Number of any sections containing full colorPaper: Type and weightProofs: Digital and/or paper-basedAdvance copies: Number of copies and destination of a few copies for approval before the bulk stock is dispatchedDelivery: Street address and any issues regarding packing or difficult vehicle access

Certainly, a request for a quote could contain more technical details but, frankly, unless you know exactly what you’re talking about, it would be better for the printer to ask specific questions and advise you accordingly. Nonetheless, they should be able to provide an accurate quote from the above specifications.

Their quote may include a provision for a small percentage of copies that can be supplied over or under the ordered amount. Standard quality control practices mean printers produce more than the required number of printed sheets or finished books to allow for possible spoilage. Sometimes the rejection rate is high and sometimes the opposite can happen and they have more acceptable sheets than anticipated so end up with slightly more books. It simply means they can deliver a different amount (usually between five and 10 percent of the whole run) than ordered and charge you on a pro rata basis.

There may also be a provision in the quote (or the terms and conditions) for increases in the cost of raw materials to be passed on to the customer. It is worth noting, for example, that at the time of writing, global pulp prices have fluctuated significantly over the last six months, however the general trend is upwards.

A printer will want you to accept their quotation as quickly as possible and their sales people may put you under some pressure to do so. For admin reasons they will want to place the project in their future schedules and budgets, so you should make it absolutely clear to them from the start if the quote request and the project itself are speculative and especially if you do not yet have a fixed timetable for production. Once production commences they may require you to pay part or all of the quoted amount upfront.

Note from Jane, especially to Australian readers: If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out Andrew Watson’s book Cover to Cover.

Adversaries in Fiction: Who Is Standing in Your Character’s Way?

Photo by Francesco Ungaro from Pexels

Todays post is by Angela Ackerman (@AngelaAckerman), co-author of The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Volume 1).

Is there anything better than well-written conflict? The vengeful enemy, sharks circling the sinking boat, a carefully guarded secret getting out in the open.

Readers, fearful for the characters they love, grip the book tighter when conflict is close.

What will happen? Will everything be okay?

The more dire the threat, the more uncertain they feel.

Conflict holds power in storytelling because it touches everything: pacing, plot, stakes, characterization, character arc, emotion, you name it. Internal or external, subtle or obvious, readers invested in the book will find themselves in a near-constant state of tension as they worry about the character’s ability to dodge story knives.

One of the biggest sources of conflict comes in the form of an adversary—someone (or something) that has goals, needs, desire, or a purpose that clashes with the protagonist’s own. Once their paths cross, BOOM. Friction, tension, conflict! A battle of wills, might, and minds ensues until one is victorious.

Adversaries generate a lot of conflict, meaning it’s important to know their motivations and intentions. If they have a big role, we should brainstorm them just as we would the protagonist (here’s a tool to help with that) to understand what’s driving them. But are all adversaries the same? Not at all. Depending on what you need, you have a variety of adversarial players to choose from. Here are some considerations for each.

Competitor: This foe is someone who has the same goal as the protagonist and will compete for it. Whether your character is up against a peer for a scholarship, a job, an award, or something else, make sure their competitor has abilities, skills, resources, or other assets that will make the outcome uncertain.

Rival: Like a competitor, this opponent wants the same thing as your protagonist. What’s different though is that the rival is also invested in defeating the protagonist. The victory is personal because there’s some sort of history between the two.

Consider the ongoing friction between Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso (and, later, their competing dojos) in the TV series, Cobra Kai. Johnny and Daniel took very different paths since their initial battle in The Karate Kid. Daniel became a wealthy and successful businessman while Johnny worked handyman jobs and flirted with alcoholism as an escape from his personal failings, losses, and abuse trauma. Old wounds are reopened when Johnny reopens Cobra Kai to empower youths, and Johnny’s son trains with Daniel to get back at his dad. Further complications abound as their teenage kids start dating and Johnny fights to become someone better while Daniel holds firm to old biases. The result of all this friction? A boatload of rivalry-fueled conflict.

Antagonist: This is often a catchall term for the main adversary. If the antagonist is a person, they will have a mission or agenda that counters the protagonist’s and most likely are prominent enough to have a character arc of their own.

Antagonist Force: The foe standing between your character and their goal doesn’t need to be a person. Depending on the story, the antagonistic force could be an element of nature (the brutal polar vortex in The Day after Tomorrow), an animal (the wolf pack hunting plane crash survivors in The Grey), or even a type of technology (The Terminator).

Villain: A villain is different than an antagonist in the sense that there is an element of evil or a specific intent to hurt others. Something has skewed their worldview and made them into who they are—a person whose moral code runs on a completely different track. Villains have no qualms about mowing down anyone who gets in the way of their goal.

Enemy: This type of foe is a threat to your protagonist and those they’re aligned with. An enemy can be a person, collective, family, or even a concept that threatens to do great damage. If the enemy is someone your character once had an amicable relationship with, the moment the two choose opposition, previous attachments are cast aside.

Invader: Some people are all about disrupting the status quo; they want what others have—be it land, power, resources, or lives—and are there to take it. Invaders are the aliens in Independence Day, the death-eaters laying siege to Hogwarts, and the highwaymen from Alas, Babylon.

Frenemy: This adversary is someone your character may align with at times, but a competition exists that requires an emotional shield to always be in place. Frenemy relationships are often between peers (co-workers, members of the same social clique, etc.), and peace is kept if conditions remain stable. As soon as one character’s position is elevated (they’re given more attention, an advantage, offered an opportunity, etc.), the competition is on. Frenemy relationships are prone to jealousy and so can devolve quickly.

Hater: This character is someone who sees your protagonist as being underserving of the good that comes to them. In general, haters struggle with the success of others, possibly due to envy, jealousy, and feelings of personal inadequacy. Haters are disruptors and saboteurs who look for opportunities to cause problems and “take someone down a peg.”

Bully: This opponent gains power by controlling others. Bullies can exist in any environment, from the mean-spirited boss who enjoys pushing your character around, to the adult sibling that never lost his adrenaline rush at sliding the brotherly (or sisterly) knife in. The closer a bully is to your character, the more they can exploit their weaknesses.

Aggressor: Some who struggle to manage their feelings have a go-to response to discomfort or fear: aggression. When a threat is perceived, the aggressor responds impulsively, using intimidation, verbal and emotional abuse, or violence to neutralize the threat. Aggressors are volatile and dangerous because once triggered, they don’t back down.

Meddler: Chances are, some people around your character have strong opinions and aren’t afraid to share them. But if they consistently try to insert themselves or interfere, they become meddlers. This type is somewhat passive-aggressive, offering unsolicited feedback and intrusive advice—or, worse, actively interfere to achieve a specific end. Meddlers are those the character has an emotional attachment to, so rather than directly calling them out, your character may put up with it until they eventually explode.

Nemesis: Once in a great while an adversary comes along who is powerful, relentless, and enduring. This is a foe that, to date, has not been bested and so their very presence is a thorn your protagonist obsesses over but can’t remove. Superman has Lex Luther, Harry Potter has Voldemort. Both parties long for the destruction or removal of the other but have been unable to bring that about.

Challenger: Sometimes your character is at the top of the food chain—happy, secure, and in control. They might be the director of an important area of the government, have the most prosperous grocery store in town, or they’re dating the prom queen. In other words, life is good. Enter the challenger—someone in a position to take what your character has.

Supernatural Force: Inhuman adversaries present a specific challenge because they usually have powers and abilities your protagonist does not. This makes the matchup uneven and will require your character to rethink what they know and believe to find a way to overcome this threat.

Adversarial conflict can be direct or indirect, but always requires a reason for existing.

Choosing an antagonist just because your character “needs someone to beat” will lead to hollow conflict, so develop each character to unearth their why instead. Who has something to prove and why? Is this about payback or something else? Is a belief or identity on the line? Adversary or protagonist, when readers can clearly line up the character’s motivation to their goals and needs, it gives credibility to their actions, choices, and behavior.

Need more ideas? You’ll find problems, obstacles, ticking clocks, temptations, moral dilemmas and more in The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Volume 1). Here’s a list of the conflict scenarios covered in this book. Let the conflict brainstorming begin!

Your Writing Matters. A Coach Can Help.

Photo by Julia Larson from Pexels

Today’s guest post is by author and writing coach Seth Harwood (@sethharwood).

You know that writing idea that keeps popping up, the one you put off with a handful of excuses? One day maybe you don’t think you’re good enough to do it. Another day it’s that the project itself isn’t worth it or doesn’t matter. Perhaps you’ve been finding other things to do.

Is this familiar?

For many writers this is a cycle that keeps us from the desk, from creating pages, locked in a feeling of frustration or of not fulfilling some potential. I know this feeling. I bet you do, too.

The truth is, it does matter. There’s a reality out there that comes to life when you create, when you put your stories or ideas on paper. You become the version of yourself you want to be—the version you’re meant to be. It may sound cliché, but the process of creating can be its own reward; the feeling of writing, even more than having written, can be the joy.

And joy? Oh, yes. That is worth going after.

Enter the coach: your partner

A good coach offers many things, the first of which is a partner. Someone who’s with you on the path, who knows the ropes and can offer feedback on your work and your process with objectivity. That’s right, someone outside of your friend group, fellow writers, and loved ones. Someone who’s seen enough writing of all levels to help you know where you fall in—not today, yesterday or next Thursday, but where you are on the path, the continuum.

When you go to the gym, doesn’t it help to have a friend meet you? Not just for friendship, but also accountability. Studies show that when people partner with someone or meet in a small group, they do more, stay with their endeavors for longer, and more often reach their goals.

How about adding a trainer to the mix? Not only can a trainer at the gym add that accountability, but he or she can see what’s working and what isn’t, diagnose your weaknesses and know what muscles groups to go easy on. A good trainer helps you make the most of your workouts and lets your old injuries heal.

Seeking support isn’t only smart, it’s a sign of strength

Maybe you’ve thought about hiring a coach or finding a good partner, but you prefer to take the hard route, thinking it’ll lead to greater rewards. Maybe you tell yourself that you deserve things to be hard. It’s okay to raise your hand if this is true.

And what really happens? You choose the hard path and what do you get? Difficulty. Struggle. I’m betting you’ve had enough of these.

Choose ease.

Support isn’t only a smart thing to seek, it’s a sign of strength. Who do we respect more? The athlete who toils in obscurity or the one who finds friends, teams up, even seeks assistance to get the most out of his or her talents and abilities?

Look around at pro athletes: the best of them work with trainers, personal body coaches, dieticians, private chefs. No matter how you feel about Tom Brady, he’s playing at a high level, later in life than anyone before him ever has. Add Roger Federer and Serena Williams. LeBron James. Today’s top athletes seek support and get it from the best in the business, which enables them to accomplish incredible things, reach unprecedented marks.

You want to be a professional about your writing, don’t you? To show up at the desk every day like you did in your other job(s), like John Cheever walking the block from his Manhattan apartment in a suit to his office, where he’d take the suit off and hang it up on the back of the door before he started the day’s pages.

Well, look to the pros for your model. You don’t have to go it alone.

Writers spend more time alone than almost any other profession. How does this usually work out for them emotionally? Unless you’re one of the few who completely thrives in solitude, I’m betting you could be happier—by a lot.

It’s a sign of strength to recognize this and act on it. If you’ve been beating yourself up and thinking that to admit your difficulty is weak, it’s time to let that voice take a back seat.

It’s not the old days

In the old days, a good editor like Maxwell Perkins would snap up the good manuscripts and even promising manuscripts to edit them up to publishable quality. He spent weeks with his writers to help craft their work into vibrant, salable novels. He was a partner, a mentor.

Who’s doing this for writers today?

Not editors. They have to shepherd too many books through the publication process to focus on any one in particular. The publishing model has squeezed the big profit margins out at every level and now the only plan that’s left is to publish a lot of books, get them all out there, and hope that some will fly, succeed, sell like wildfire.

For a while agents had the bandwidth and profit margin to lend a hand, but that didn’t last long. More and more agents are looking for edited, polished, even finalized manuscripts they can turn around and hand off to an editor for the sale. Maybe you’ve already tried finding an agent. My bet is that you didn’t have much fun.

And fun? It’s part of why you started writing, I bet. It’s even a very worthwhile goal.

Choose fun.

Final thoughts

When looking for a coach, be sure to find the right fit. Many coaches will offer a free discovery session or a sample read of a few pages. Consider this a chance to see if you’re a good match in terms of personality, interest, and work methods.

Most of all, if you’re struggling, reach out and give coaching a try. You’ll probably learn enough in one hour’s consultation to leapfrog a month of sweat, tears, and maybe even blood.

Don’t just write; have fun doing it. Coaches can help you be productive, proficient, and proud of what you do.

Why You Should Write a Novella for NaNoWriMo 2021

“tiny books” by wmshc_kiwi is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Today’s post is by Sharon Oard Warner, the author of Writing the Novella.

On the off-chance you aren’t acquainted with the acronym, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. November is the month, so about now, around the country and across the world, writers are sharpening pencils and clearing off kitchen tables. They’re preparing loved ones to do without them for 30 straight days or at least until Thanksgiving. And if they’re smart, they’re using October to do the prep work: character development, narrative arc, settling on setting, and so forth.

If NaNoWriMo is new to you, here’s a little history: The annual event has been around for 23 years. It was launched in 1999 by writer Chris Baty, and the challenge began with a group of 21 writers in the San Francisco Bay area. No telling how many of them finished what they started, but they must have talked it up.

By the second year, the dedicated scribblers grew to 140. And so on. Skipping forward to 2020, some 383,000 people got serious and signed up at the official website, National Novel Writing Month.

NaNoWriMo may be what you need to get motivated. The rules are short and simple. Baty devised them back in 2000, and they still apply:

The writing project should be new.It should be written by a single person.It should reach 50,000 words by midnight on November 30.

Here’s the thing: Although the writers who sign up have every intention of going the distance, only a fraction reach the finish line. In any given year, fewer than 20% of official participants get it done. But that’s understandable, right? All sorts of things can trip you up when you set out to write a novel in a month. Some are unavoidable while others can be anticipated, planned for, and thereby side-stepped. If you have your heart set on winning NaNoWriMo in 2021, I suggest the following:

50,000 words is novella territory

A work of fiction that logs in at 50,000 words is actually a novella, though publishers in the United States will be reluctant to label it as such. (Why, you ask? Because you can charge more for something called a novel than for something called a novella.) The average contemporary novel ranges in length from 80,000 to 120,000 words, but many of our most celebrated fictions are novellas of around 50,000 words, the goal post for NaNoWriMo:

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Sula by Toni Morrison
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

To finish what you start during NaNoWriMo, don’t plan to write a magnum opus. Instead, devise a story that fits the novella container of some 40,000 to 60,000 words.

A novella plot is manageable

Novellas are easier to plot than novels because they are constructed around one strong but flexible narrative arc with room for a subplot or two. Where plot is concerned, novellas are like screenplays. They get right down to business. Novels are McMansions to get lost in, while novellas are one or two bedroom apartments.

The cast of characters is small

Developing characters is time-consuming, and the larger the party, the more work it creates, both before (planning) and after (revising). Novellas tend to be focused on one protagonist with a small cast of supporting characters. Consider Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, for instance. The protagonist is the fireman, Montag. Secondary characters include Millie, Montag’s wife; Beatty, his boss; and Professor Faber. There are cameo characters, too—notably, Clarisse in the beginning and Granger at the end.

Novellas are situated in one place

If description isn’t your strong suit, you may dread the setting work required for a novel. Happy news: if you’re writing a novella, your characters are likely to be firmly situated in place and time. Whereas novels are often peripatetic—moving from place to place—novellas tend to be planted. And often enough, the novella’s plot is tied to the place. Think of Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, for instance, which is set in the frigid, snowy Starkfield, Massachusetts. Or Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It, set in and around Missoula, Montana. The takeaway? Your descriptive efforts will be focused—and they will be meaningful.

Novellas cover a shorter period of time

Chronology tends to be one of the trickier parts of storytelling. Whereas novels can stretch over decades and require calendars and tables for tracking the passage of time, most novellas take place over a short interval: a week, say, or a season. Although backstory may be significant, it’s often hinted at rather than spelled out. Hemingway’s masterpiece, The Old Man and the Sea, takes place over three days. Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day covers a mere twenty-four hours. Remember: the shorter the interval between the beginning and the end, the easier it is to plan your story.

The ending is latent in the beginning

In my experience, there’s nothing harder to write than the last five to ten pages. I have friends and neighbors who’ve written manuscripts of more than 50,000 words—though not in a month—but have never found their way to the end. There’s nothing sadder than an unfinished manuscript.

My advice is to write the ending before you get there. By that, I mean jump ahead. As soon as you have a glimmer of the finale, stop where you are and get it down on the page. When you’re writing the novella, finding your way to the end is a little easier and not just because the word count is more attainable. Many novellas have an ending that is latent in the beginning. Take Fahrenheit 451, for instance. It opens with Montag starting a fire and it ends with him extinguishing one.

A final note

Planning is key, as Julie Artz discusses in Want to Win NaNoWriMo? I also recommend identifying a touchstone, a novella that’s exactly the sort of book you want to write—but different. A touchstone can keep you inspired even as it offers you the answers to so many questions about how to begin and end, how to develop scenes, and so forth. Your best teachers are always your favorite writers.

Happy writing!

What Do Authors Earn from Digital Lending at Libraries?

“library” by Matt Madd is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Today’s post is adapted from an article I first published in my paid newsletter, The Hot Sheet.

Of the many changes wrought by the pandemic on the publishing industry, one of the most dramatic has been on library circulation. OverDrive, the biggest US distributor of digital materials to libraries and schools, saw lending increase by 33 percent in 2020; as libraries closed and stopped ordering print materials, many shifted their budgets to digital collections. But buying and lending digital materials poses challenges for most library budgets.

Ebook and audiobook prices and restrictions have increased over time, making it more expensive for libraries to circulate digital materials. The New Yorker recently covered what the costs look like for an institution such as The New York Public Library: For Barack Obama’s A Promised Land (Penguin Random House), the library system bought 639 one- and two-year licenses for the ebook, paying a total of $22,512. Each copy of the ebook can be lent to one person at a time. (The consumer ebook sells for about $18 per copy.) As of August 2021, the library has spent less than $10,000 on 226 copies of the hardcover edition, which retails for $45 but sells for about half that on Amazon. 

As seen in the example above, Big Five publisher titles typically have to be renewed after a specific number of lends or a set time period of one or two years. Assuming library budgets and collections move to majority digital, there will not really be such a thing as a permanent collection anymore, but more of an ever-shifting collection. Librarians have been vocal about their frustration, and Maryland notably passed legislation requiring publishers to license ebooks under “reasonable terms.” The Association of American Publishers has condemned this and the law likely cannot stand given federal laws related to copyright. Still, Congress is applying pressure and asking questions of publishers.

So how do authors fare in all this? 

Traditionally published authors are paid when their books sell to libraries regardless of format, usually at the same royalty rate that’s paid out for a retail sale. However, library unit sales may not be known to authors, as they’re often mixed in with retail sales on royalty statements. Complicating matters, what the consumer pays and what the library pays for an ebook may not be the same. Digital licenses can be as much as six times the consumer price and they expire.

For the examples below, we’ve used a mid-range list price to calculate payout. Publisher’s net and author’s net aligns with industry standards for Big Five, but these are approximate—contracts and agreements obviously vary. Note that big publishers often sell ebooks on an agency model rather than a wholesale model, which gives them control over pricing.

 List pricePublisher’s netAuthor’s netConsumer ebook sale
(agency model)$14.99$10.49 (70%)$2.62 (25%)Library ebook license
(agency model)$55$38.50 (70%)$9.60 (25%)Library ebook license
(wholesale model)$55$27.50 (50%)$6.87 (25%)Hardcover sale
(library or retail)$27.99$13.99 (50%)$2.79 (10%)

In 2019, Steve Potash, CEO of OverDrive, revealed that for at least one Big Five publisher—Macmillan—libraries saw 79 percent of their ebooks expire because of a time limit, not because the limit of 52 checkouts was reached. OverDrive’s data in fact suggests that the average Macmillan title is checked out just eight and a half times during a two-year license.

So, is the author receiving fair compensation for digital library lending? 

At Digipalooza, Sari Feldman (a retired librarian and past president of the American Library Association) moderated a panel with Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, and Skip Dye, the senior vice president of library sales and digital strategy at Penguin Random House, to discuss, in part, compensation for library sales. While the Authors Guild does not take a position on what the best business model is for lending, they seek compensation that’s sufficient to cover any potential loss of ebook or audiobook sales. Rasenberger said she recognizes that not every loan from a library represents a lost sale. Still, one goal of the Authors Guild is to make sure that ebook and audiobook lending do not replace too many sales, with an emphasis on too. She said, “It is a balance between making sure readers have the access they need and the bottom line.”

While praising libraries for increasing discovery of new titles and authors, digital lending “does help with piracy some,” Rasenberger said, “because it provides a legal alternative to easy, free access to books.” Her comment starkly revealed how publishers and authors can see library lending as not all that different from piracy. The fear, in part, is that libraries train consumers to use their library as they would an unlimited subscription service instead of visiting a retailer to purchase. In 2010, before most Big Five publishers even sold or licensed ebooks to libraries, Macmillan CEO John Sargent called library ebooks “a thorny problem” for publishers. “It’s like Netflix, but you don’t pay for it,” Sargent said. “How is that a good model for us?”

Rasenberger was not anti-library, but she said, “It’s just important to have some roadblocks other than the need to return that ebook, so that it doesn’t become too easy for readers who can afford to buy ebooks.” Librarians attending the session took issue with this in the live chat, as popular titles often have long hold times, not to mention that digital titles may expire.

Libraries collectively spend about $1.5 billion each year on their collections. 

That’s about 9 percent of traditional (consumer) publishing revenues. When we reached out to Robin Bradford, a longtime librarian who currently works at a rural library system in Washington state, she said, “Libraries spend so much money in product—and money in staff time—trying to give publishers money.” She says she tries to buy as many copies as she thinks her system will support. “Instead of buying the bare minimum, I try to buy the maximum.” She will purchase print copies, the digital audiobook, the ebook, and even a large-print copy of the same title if it is available. 

Also, librarians handsell books on a massive scale every day, in person and online. A statistic that’s often shared by library advocates: libraries outnumber McDonald’s locations in the US. This translates into a marketing staff for publishers. “Bookstores are beloved for doing this, and libraries—nothing,” Bradford told us. She said if readers don’t like the books they purchase, they may or may not try that author or genre again, but library borrowing remains low risk. “You can check out things that sound interesting, things that look intriguing, things someone told you about … all kinds of things you wouldn’t pay money for sight unseen.” Similarly, librarian Jessamyn West told us, “I work in a library in a small rural market, and it’s amazing watching basically every new book fly off the shelf, no matter what it is.” Many studies, such as the Immersive Media and Books 2020 report and those from BookNet Canada, have shown that library users are also purchasers and will buy some formats and borrow others.

A final note

One of the most interesting things about the panel with Rasenberger and Dye was the simultaneous chat happening amongst librarians. One attitude—expressed by more than one participant—was that if authors aren’t earning enough from library lending, perhaps they need better contracts with their publishers. Sadly, there was no interplay between Rasenberger and Dye on this issue, although in the past Authors Guild has campaigned for higher royalties on ebooks to ensure payouts are fair when compared to earnings from other formats.

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