Emilie Richards's Blog, page 66
September 27, 2016
Publishing Today: A Quiz and Strange Facts Indeed
Remember two weeks ago in my small presses blog I promised a quiz? Don’t you? Subtract one point from your score. It”s time to see if you’ve been paying attention these past weeks of Publishing Today. Here goes:
1–What famous author spurred on the indie publishing movement by publishing a novel in segments on his website and asking readers to send in donations?
Clive Cussler
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Stephen King
Danielle Steele
2–Which of the following is NOT a reason for choosing indie instead of traditional publishing?
Indie publishing gives authors control over content and marketing
An author chooses to write in a less popular genre
An author wants to choose her own deadlines and cover art
Indie publishing is easier and less time consuming
3–A hybrid author is one who:
Drives a car that uses two types of power
Experiments with mixing genres like horror with romance
Holds a day job in addition to writing
Publishes both traditionally and independently
4–The paperback novel was pioneered in:
1877
1901
1935
1977
5–The term “vanity publishing” means:
The world of beauty or fashion plays heavily into the story
The novel’s major character is a narcissist
The novel is part of a genre that began with Thackeray’s Vanity Fair
The publisher requires money from an author to put his book into print
6–A press is considered small if:
It records sales of less than $50 million
It refuses to publish bestselling authors
It offers authors much smaller royalty rates
It only publishes literary fiction
Enough? You’ll find the correct answers to the quiz at the bottom. But just so you know? Number 4 was a trick question because I never told you the date for the first paperback novel. In fact I only learned it today. However if you guessed 1935, you’re correct. So give yourself a pat on the back and an extra point. A British publisher named Allen Lane pioneered the paperback, and the first American paperbacks appeared in 1939, titles by Shakespeare and Agatha Christie.
Were you surprised it took that long for paperbacks to emerge? Here are more fun facts about publishing.
The longest sentence ever printed was in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (most likely NOT in the musical). Care to guess how many words? 823. Word Press likes to complain about the length of my sentences. I’m trying to imagine how much fun WP would have with VH.
Do you know which country reads more books per capita than any other? That’s right, it’s not the U.S. The honor goes to Iceland.
Have any idea which U.S. president averaged one book a day? Guessed Kennedy? Wilson? Lincoln? Nope. The answer is Theodore Roosevelt, who was truly a fascinating man. Can we say speed reader?
Do you know who purchased the world’s most expensive book and what the title was? The purchaser was Bill Gates and the book was Codex Leicester by Da Vinci.
Want more publishing fun facts? Visit this Mediaworks blog.
And how about ending a lightweight blog with lightweight author facts?
Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, lived next door to Mark Twain. I wonder what they talked about?
William Burroughs, of Tarzan fame, accidentally shot and killed his common-law wife during a drunken game of William Tell. We can all learn from this.
From grim to embarrassing? Alexandre Dumas fought his first duel at age 23. I don’t know if his opponent fell to the ground, but apparently Dumas’s pants did.
Detective fiction author Dashiell Hammett was also a private detective assigned to track down a stolen Ferris wheel. Do you suppose there were so many littering the countryside that this was a tough assignment?
Agatha Christie called poor Hercule Poirot ‘a detestable, bombastic, tiresome, egocentric little creep’. She was probably not alone.
Lots more facts where these came from. Visit interestingliterature.com and find out what word Dr. Seuss included in Hop on Pop to make sure his publisher was paying attention.
I’ll need to re-read this blog on the days when publishing seems no fun at all. How about you?
Meantime I’m enjoying this series, and I hope you are, too. Next week is the final blog on Publishing Today, and it’s all about you, the reader. See you then.
**Answers to the quiz: #1-3; #2-4; #3-4; #4-3; #5-4; #6-1
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September 24, 2016
Sunday Inspiration: Strength, Courage, and Confidence
“The encouraging thing is that every time you meet a situation, though you may think at the time it is an impossibility and you go through the tortures of the damned, once you have met it and lived through it you find that forever after you are freer than you ever were before. If you can live through that, you can live through anything. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face… The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it. If you fail anywhere along the line, it will take away your confidence. You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
Yes, I will do the thing I think I cannot do… Will you?
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September 20, 2016
Publishing Today: Independent Publishing
Independent publishing is far from new. According to Publisher’s Weekly independent publishing began in 2000 to 35000 B.C.E. with picture writing on papyrus and clay tablets. But let’s jump ahead to, say, now. In the twentieth century advances like the worldwide web, print-on-demand (printing one book at a time), and even blogs like this one, opened the doors to books that are directly published by authors.
In 2000 Stephen King led the band and published a novel in segments on his website with suggested donations as payment. Techie types then created e-readers, enhanced by the invention of “electronic paper” which looked, on the screen, much like regular paper. E-ink displays made reading on a device much easier.
By 2010 Amazon reported selling more ebooks for ereaders than print books.
Authors paid close attention to the new technology advances. Many novelists had tired of publishing house shenanigans: advice they didn’t want to hear; covers they didn’t like; modest distribution and royalty payments. No matter how hard the authors tried, some books never fit a publisher’s established guidelines, so their books had never gone to print. The authors still believed there was an audience for what they wrote, perhaps not as large as a publisher required, but one that was large enough to support their efforts.
Author Harry Bingham addresses this in an insightful guest blog at JaneFriedman.com. Despite what we’re led to believe, publishers are making more money now than ever before. Still, the author’s journey is fraught with barriers, even minefields. No matter how good novels are, no matter how well-received by critics, bad decisions from a publisher along with high prices for each book can sink a Big Five career. Luckily by publishing independently, a promising career can be resurrected.
Suddenly authors were interested in doing things their way, and independent publishing took off.
Authors began to assemble everything they needed. Companies like Smashwords gave them tools for publishing, and advice was everywhere. And what does an indie author need? First a good book–or perhaps just a book, because no one is judging quality at that point. Then an attractive cover, hopefully designed by a professional. Then the program or guidelines needed to format a book correctly so the author can put it online at any of the bookstores they choose to pursue. Finally a marketing strategy so that the book doesn’t sink into oblivion.
Not all authors choose independent publishing exclusively. Many–like me–are “hybrid authors” who publish both traditionally and independently, hedging their bets. At this point, busy with my traditionally published novels, I’ve only published portions of my backlist. The word “backlist” refers to books that were originally published by my traditional publisher but are now mine to publish digitally. With the help of my talented daughter-in-law I create new covers and edit them to bring them into present day.
So it’s simple, right?
Let’s not pretend this is easy. To be a successful indie, an author has to write a book readers will want to read. While nobody judges whether a book can be published online, readers judge whether to buy it. An author must professionally present and market every book. To make certain this happens, indie authors may use a variety of assistants, and some successful authors employ full-time staff.
But if the work involved is the downside–and many authors love doing it–the upside is that instead of 6-10% royalties on each book, the author collects over 60%. She can set her own price and make an impact on how many books sell by doing careful and creative marketing. Suddenly the author determines the success of a book, not a publishing house.
So what about print? I mean it’s not a book unless you can hold a stack of paper in your hands, right?
While indie-pubbed books are almost always available as digital downloads, a growing number are available as print copies, too. Print-on-demand companies like Lightning Source and CreateSpace have changed the scenery, but for now, many if not most indie books are exclusively marketed as ebooks.
Do you, as a reader, pay attention to the way the book you’re reading was published? Are you grateful or even mystified that books in a genre that almost disappeared from the market are back again? Indie-pubbed books are often cheaper because the author receives bigger royalties and can afford to discount. Are you happy to try an new author because doing so is not a huge investment?
Of course there are pros and cons. Would I write a blog without them?
Indie-pubbed books may not always be as professionally produced or edited as their traditional brothers and sisters. But because readers are less likely to continue to purchase substandard books from substandard authors, either the author shapes up quickly or his/her career fails quickly. Tools like Amazon’s “Look Inside” or BookBub’s daily newsletter with free or inexpensive books to try, help readers judge a book or author before purchase.
In traditional publishing, skilled editors determine which books to present to readers. In indie publishing, skilled readers determine which books they want to buy from a wider variety of possibilities. I bet, like me, you see the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Next week we’ll talk about different kinds of authors and who determines what they write. I’ll answer questions I’ve received about the ways a novel goes into print. Meantime, don’t forget to ask your own on my Facebook Author Page or here in comments.
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September 17, 2016
Sunday Inspiration: Look Into Your Heart
“Look into your own heart; discover what it is that gives you pain. And then refuse, under any circumstances whatsoever, to inflict that pain on anybody else.” -Karen Armstrong
The Charter for Compassion, is a worldwide movement created by religious leader Karen Armstrong and dedicated to building a peaceful world through compassion.
Take a look around. You’ll find many inspiring quotes on the website as well a copy of the Charter that has been signed by many world and religious leaders.
The quote above is at the heart of compassion — the refusal to inflict the pain we have felt on others. That refusal is at the heart of all religions.
Can you imagine what our lives and our world would be like if we dedicated ourselves to healing instead of hurting each other?
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September 13, 2016
Publishing Today: Small Presses
To begin the series, last week we discussed traditional publishing. And yes, there will be a quiz.
Remember what you learned? Those powerful companies, particularly the Big Four (or Big Five, depending on how you look at it), fill your local bookstore with books they’ve carefully evaluated and processed. Plus traditional publishers oversee the process of publication from the moment a manuscript is selected until its last cent of profit.
Now I’m going back on last week’s promise.
Before we launch into a independent publishing, as I assumed we would do, let’s first give some space to the many small presses who publish books you love.
What’s a small press exactly?
In the U.S., a small press is usually considered to be one that records sales of less than $50 million a year. According to Wikipedia, these presses account for about half the market share of the industry. (And no, it’s unlikely any of them use a vintage printing press like I’ve pictured, but isn’t that one a beaut?)
Small presses are often less motivated by the almighty dollar and more by a desire to see certain kinds of books brought into print. They frequently specialize in a specific genre, like Poisoned Pen Press, which publishes only mysteries, or Black Balloon Publishing, which prides itself on publishing the weird and unclassifiable. These presses often inhabit a particular niche which larger publishers might not find profitable enough, like regional literature, and they expand possibilities for authors and readers alike.
Why would an author prefer to write for a smaller press with a smaller print run and thus fewer royalties? Eliot Peper wrote a thoughtful piece about this at JaneFriedman.com entitled Publishing With a Small Press: Straddling the Indie-Traditional Gap. Peper tells his own story and says that small presses often have more flexible contract terms. Unlike independent publishing, they run the production and distribution processes for you. Small presses also aren’t as reluctant as the Big 4 to think outside the box, all reasons to publish with one if independent publishing seems too time consuming or confusing.
A small press is not a “vanity” press.
The term vanity press emerged when crafty entrepreneurs realized a profit could be made by enticing new authors to publish manuscripts that neither traditional nor small press publishers wanted. An author’s vanity was hooked because they could now report they had been published. Period. In traditional publishing models, authors are paid for their work. In vanity press models, the author pays the publisher. The author doesn’t own the print run, and she doesn’t control the way it’s handled. Authors receive a few copies to show their friends with promises that rarely come to pass.
Want an important hint? If a publisher asks you for money, the answer is no.
These days there is no reason that with a little work you can’t learn the mechanisms of publication yourself, save paying the useless middle-man, and spend your money on a brilliant cover and targeted marketing instead of lining vanity pockets. We’ll get to publishing on your own next time.
Do small presses and independent publishing have anything in common?
Discussing small presses is a great way to ease into the topic of independent publishing. Many indie authors create their own “small presses,” or “imprints” primarily to publish their own books. They feel that using the name of a small press lends legitimacy to their work and helps get reviews. Sometimes they branch out and publish other authors, too. But single-author presses are very different from the established small presses I’ve discussed already.
Next week I’ll talk about how independent publishing came to be–starting on clay tablets and moving forward. Are you reading independently published novels? Do you know?
Comments that include questions will be appreciated here or on my Facebook Author Page. I’ve already received some to explore. I love that.
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September 10, 2016
Sunday Inspiration: We Are Here
OK, summer’s gone bye bye. Get over it!
At least that’s what I tell myself. But it’s hard letting go of the long sunny days, chatting with good friends and family, and the relaxation — oops! — not so much on the relaxing since I’ve been writing all summer. But I’ve had some good porch time, long walks, and some wonderful times with people I love. I feel very blessed.
I like to keep my eyes open for creative t-shirts in the summer, and I especially like this one, which proman snapped for me. It’s a good message for summer but also for starting up a new year in the fall. Why are we here? Hopefully we don’t need a t-shirt to tell us, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded from time to time that we are here to heal, to love, and to create.
May the months ahead — and your life — will be filled with all.
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September 6, 2016
Publishing Today: Traditional Publishers
Harlequin Offices in Toronto Canada, romance novels through the decades.
With all the talk about independent publishing are you confused about what these changes mean for you as a reader? Do you wonder what’s going on when another author is listed right along with your old favorite? Do you wish you had an easier way to find your favorite types of books? For the next several Wednesdays, we’ll explore together.
Let’s begin by talking about traditional U.S. publishers–and at least one Canadian one, my own.
If you live in the U.S., traditional publishers are the folks who’ve brought you the books you love since 1638, when a printing press was imported to Cambridge, Massachusetts, from England. (If you’re reading this from another country? Perhaps you have some insights to share about publishing there. We’d welcome those.)
Remember when we knew exactly what publishers did?
Publishing companies existed all over the world, but in the United States, beginning in 1850, New York became the capital, and that has continued all the way into the twenty-first century.
In its earliest days publishing flourished with a large assortment of publishing houses, a number of whom specialized in specific types of books.
Through the years the industry changed as
Copyrights were enforced in the U.S. and later internationally
Censorship flourished then disappeared,
Paperbacks came into being,
Mail order book clubs came (and most often went,)
The Depression convinced publishers to allow booksellers to return unsold merchandise for credit to encourage more orders.
Beginning in the 1960s, a new trend developed. Smaller publishers began to merge with larger ones. You can read more details in this excellent summary, but while you’re doing that, the rest of us will skip ahead to present day.
While small houses continue to exist–we’ll discuss those next time–four traditional publishers, known as the Big Four, are now the biggest English language publishers in the industry.
Those houses are:
Penguin Random House including nearly 250 imprints and publishing houses. Some of the most well-known are Random House Publishing Group, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group; Crown Publishing Group; Penguin Group U.S.
Simon & Schuster including Atria, Folger Shakespeare Library, Free Press, Gallery Books, Howard Books, Pocket Books, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, Threshold Editions and Touchstone.
HarperCollins Publishers including HarperCollins; William Morrow; Avon Books; Broadside Books and many more including my own publisher, Harlequin.
Hachette Book Group including Grand Central Publishing; Little, Brown and Company; Faith Words; Center Street; Orbit; Yen Press.
Another house, Macmillian U.S., which includes Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Henry Holt and Company; Picador; St. Martin’s Press; and Tor/Forge is often added to make this list the Big Five.
You don’t think that book on your bed table is from one of these large traditional publishers? You might be right, but look closer at the copyright page. Within each of these houses are many imprints, which are smaller groups that publish certain genres or types of books. For instance Harper-Collins is now my publishing house, but Harlequin works inside Harper-Collins to do what it does best and Mira, the Harlequin imprint I write for, specializes in mainstream fiction, not in romance, for which Harlequin is best known.
When it comes to publishing a book, traditional publishing has had more than a century to learn what works and what doesn’t.
Big publishers are equipped to buy and then professionally publish any book with which they are sure to make a profit. The mechanisms are already in place, as is, most important, distribution. Every big publisher has a sales forces that who can get thousands of books into stores worldwide and then into the hands of readers.
There’s a downside though.
Like all businesses, traditional publishers are cautious. They take few chances. They look at sales figures, at surveys, at focus groups. They’re fully prepared to ax authors, imprints, series, and their own departments if numbers aren’t crunching to their satisfaction. They also take the lion’s share of profits. And yes, much of that “profit” pays for the publication process itself, or for expansion into new markets, etc. Authors trade larger royalties per book for many more sales. (The average author royalty payment is between 4-10% of the sale of each book, the larger number for hardcovers or for particularly important authors.)
Do you remember where Steve Jobs and Bill Gates got their starts?
Not by climbing somebody else’s job ladders after graduation from Ivy League colleges. Both men quit school to work in their garages–or so the story goes–as they figured out entirely new ways to do the things established businesses didn’t even want to think about. (Other famous companies and world famous entrepreneurs like Walt Disney started in garages, too. You may need to clean out your own and get busy.)
As you might expect, with the advent of technology, authors, too, decided to take publishing into their own hands and create an entirely different business model. And yes, they had help from people like Jeff Bezos at Amazon–a garage rec-room alum–who asked what would happen if the middle-man was cut out for many authors–or more accurately, let Amazon become the middle-man.
Next time we’ll look at the rise of independent publishing, the nuts and bolts for authors, and what it means for an author to go hybrid. See you then, and meantime, if you have questions, I look at every comment.
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September 3, 2016
Sunday Inspiration: Your Work
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” -Steve Jobs
On Labor Day Weekend, we celebrate our labor by enjoying ourselves — and I hope you are having an enjoyable holiday. But if we truly dread most Mondays and every other day we’re working, how can we bring that enjoyment back into our jobs?
I’m fortunate in that I do love my job — except for those pesky deadlines. I’ve had other jobs, though, that I also loved, and some I hope never to think about again. For me, determining what I did like about each one helped me realize that writing fiction would pack in everything I enjoyed and more. And hey, they actually agreed to pay me to do it.
For those who don’t love what you’re doing, perhaps identifying pieces of your work that you do love — or at least in which you can find some satisfaction — may help you to achieve more enjoyment in the short run. Maybe it’s time to make an honest list and find ways to do more of what you love and less of what you don’t–if you can. If you can’t, is it time to search for something more fulfilling? Time to get more training so you can move on–not necessarily up–to something you love. Can you do it, if not now, at a later date?
As Steve Jobs said, don’t settle — keep searching for a job you love, one that gives meaning and joy to your life. Then Labor Day will be a true celebration in your life.
Have you found your dream job (or close) yet? I hope so. Happy Labor Day to all, the doers, the seekers, and those making lists. And thanks to all those who labor to make each of our lives that much better.
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August 31, 2016
A Visit to Harlequin Headquarters
We’re enjoying a few days with good friends in Toronto. After writing for Harlequin for decades (hard to believe) I finally made it to the headquarters for a warm welcome and tour yesterday. I met my new editor as well as the head of the Mira line, saw the meticulous and professional way each book goes into print, met dozens of key people, and taped a marketing video for The Swallow’s Nest. That’s me in the corner.
And speaking of The Swallow’s Nest? I met Gigi, who was responsible for the cover of When We Were Sisters, and is also working on The Swallow’s Nest. I was given a preview of a number of the possibilities they’ve gathered and was honored to choose my favorites.
You know how picky I am about covers, right? You certainly do if you’ve read my blogs here. But this time? Wow, I loved them all. I finally chose my top three, and afterwards my husband, who was with me, said he’d mentally chosen the same ones. Whichever idea they choose I know this cover will be spectacular. They’ll use the photos for inspiration but they’ll also do their own shoot to get the characters right.
I’ve always had great respect for the process of putting a book into print, but it’s double fold now that I’ve seen how much work and care goes into the entire experience from start to finish.
Thanks Harlequin and Mira, particularly. I was humbled by your warm welcome and delighted to meet you all.
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August 27, 2016
Sunday Inspiration: Jazz & Life
“I’ve always told the musicians in my band to play what they know and then play above that. Because then anything can happen, and that’s where great art and music happen.” – Miles Davis
It’s Jazz Week at Chautauqua, and the music is fabulous. Wynton Marsalis and his Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra are blowing away the large, enthusiastic crowds.
The other day I heard this quote by Miles Davis that seems to be about life as well as jazz. I certainly want to play above what I know in my writing and my relationships and my spirituality. Don’t you?
Like a good jazz musician, I would like to soar above the commonplace, not only achieving harmony with those with whom I collaborate but also to seek something unique and transcending.
Jazz: you either dig it or you don’t.
How about you?
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