The low prices of e-books are bad for writers

"What then should you pay for an e-book edition of a $14.95 paperback? Most people would say it ought to be practically nothing because there are no design, no printing, no warehousing, no shipping costs for the publisher to pay. An e-book, after all, is just a batch of electrons, weightless, shippable through a wire. But this is to misunderstand what it takes to make a successful book. An e-book still needs all of the expensive editorial services noted above; and if it is going to sell, it has to be marketed, distributed, and publicized, just as a print edition must be. And the author royalty on an e-book sale is usually about the same as it is for a print book, even though the list price of the e edition is lower." - Independent Publishers Group

One doesn't have to look far to find stories about and opinions from authors who have scored big with self-published books, who make a living by selling books for 99 cents each, or who have built up a reading public from the PR machines of mainstream publishing and are now going the low-priced e-book route.

I have no problem with such success stories. I don't think they are typical.

What bothers me is the large number of readers and writers who think e-books should be dirt cheap because they are just files. As IPG demonstrates in their comparison of print book and e-book prices, e-books require (or should require) editing, promotion, cover art, all of which will be hard to recover if the material is sold under the "it's just a file" entitlement expectations of some buyers. In addition, if the book is issued by a publisher, the pricing also has to help defray the usual overhead costs of the company.

In IPG's example, a $14.95 book that sells 10,000 copies may earn the author $11,000 and the publisher a net of $48,000. Similar results may occur with an e-book with a price of $10.00. IPG is fighting Amazon because the bookseller wants to cut the sales price down so low that neither author nor publisher can stay in business.

Of course, while everyone argues about this, the author may get lost in the shuffle because s/he isn't really expected to live off a writing career. In IPG's example, there aren't too many people who aren't independently wealthy or who don't have the benefit of a spouse with a large salary who can spend a year or so writing a book and then earn only $11,000. If Amazon has its way, the earnings will be lower.

As a writer, I can't buy into the views that (a) Two years of my work are "just a file." (That's nonsense--the reader is, in part, paying for the CONTENT); (b) That "the pride of authorship" should be worth more to me than staying out of bankruptcy, or (c) That while the author and publisher take a loss on each book, they'll make up for it on volume (ha ha).

I hope IPG stands firm against Amazon's demands and that writers who want to work for free will figure out a way to do it that doesn't help Amazon grow larger and nearly all-powerful.

--Malcolm

You May Also Like: Please check your imagination at the door, on society's expectation that such things don't belong in the adult world.

 

Amanda Knox - big bucks for (perhaps) a big book

For as long as I can remember, I've felt that one of the nastier of the slings and arrows in the writing business is the fact that celebrities (famous or infamous) can--because of who they are, what they did, or what they didn't do--leap over hard-working, long-time writers and command an advance for one book that is off the scale.

$4,000,000 for a yet-to-be written book by Amanda Knox is off the scale. When I see that figure for a celebrity book of any kind, I feel discouraged as well as angry. I know, it's a sour grapes attitude.

Knox, like everyone else, has every right to write a book, tell her side of the story, and then hope that readers tune into her work and understand. As Iain Hollingshead noted in his story in The Telegraph about HarperCollins beating twenty other publishers in a bidding war over the book, Knox has been called a "she-devil" and a woman with "the face of an angel, but the eyes of a killer."

I think she has a right to respond to those who still think she's guilty and to those who have always believed she was innocent. But $4,000,000? She did spend four years in jail and run up $1,000,000 in legal fees, so is this just an example of good karma evening out the cosmic balance sheet?

We can stipulate that while many authors spend a lifetime trying to earn that kind of money, most of them wouldn't turn down such an advance if they were offered a contract from a publisher with enough clout to (a) pay such an advance and (b) use the news about that advance as part of a giant publicity machine that makes sure everyone is ready to buy the book when it comes out.

Yet, getting back to the sour grapes side of the question, I see $4,000,000 for one book and think, well, wouldn't it be "more fair" to divide that up into forty $100,000 advances for long-time authors who have (a) never gotten an advance, and (b) never gotten any publicity for their work?

It may sound more fair, but splitting that money up amongst forty people nobody's ever heard of might be a real bad financial decision. The Knox book will probably sell. Forty books with titles like "My Love Affair With Two Egg, Florida" and "Lust Beneath the Scrub Oak Trees" probably wouldn't sell. Maybe HarperCollins did a smart thing.

I'm bothered by it, though. Having said all this, my guess is that HarperCollins won't be calling me to offer me a contract as Knox's ghostwriter.

--Malcolm

Teaser Tuesday: Lowcountry Bribe by C. Hope Clark

Today's teaser is C. Hope Clark's new novel Lowcountry Bribe.

The Teaser

"He winked and clicked his tongue. Panic coursed through me at the altered state. Like hearing that your church-going mother likes her bourbon straight and sex on top. He’d offered me a bribe."

Publisher's Description

A killer wants to make certain she buys the farm.

Threats, a missing boss, a very dead co-worker, a high-level investigation and a sinister hog farmer: Lowcountry Ag Department manager Carolina Slade is a bean-counting civil servant in hot water.

Carolina Slade is a by-the-book county manager for the Department of Agriculture-a civil servant who coordinates federal loans for farmers in the coastal lowcountry of South Carolina. When one of her clients, a hog farmer named Jessie Rawlings, offers her a bribe, Slade reports Jessie to her superiors. The next thing she knows, she's besieged by Resident Agent-In-Charge Wayne Largo from the Feds' IG Office in Atlanta. He and his partner have come to investigate Slade's accusations, and if possible catch Jessie in the act of handing over money.

However, the IG isn't telling Slade everything. The agents are also investigating the disappearance of Slade's boss the year before in connection to possible land fraud. And when the sting on Jessie goes bad, the case is put on hold and Wayne is called back to Atlanta, leaving Slade to fear not only for her life and job, but for her childrens' safety.

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How to Play

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

You may also like: Pick up your Valentine’s Day Gift Here

 

Recent Postings You Might Like

I know I've got to do better posting links here to reviews and posts elsewhere that some of you may enjoy. Here's a few of the latest:

FREE E-BOOK: I announced on my website that Vanilla Heart Publishing has released Celebrate Glacier National Park as a free, 49-page e-book available for download as a PDF file. The book is a collection of posts I wrote about the park during its 2010 centennial.

REVIEW: A dazzling coming of age story - Sharon Heath's "The History of My Body" on Literary Aficionado.

REVIEW: "Identity: Lost" a legal thriller by Pascal Marco on Malcolm's Round Table.

FEATURE: Old Books, Old Stories, Old Memories - thoughts about a dusty old book of Norwegian folktales on my shelf that reminds me of childhood storytelling, on Malcolm's Round Table

SATIRE: "ASSBOOK Goes Live Today Across the Internet," is a bit of parody about the world of social networking on Morning Satirical News.

RESOURCE: Meanwhile, don't forget about Bookbits, my six-days-a-week posting of links to the latest book news and reviews, contests, writing tips, features and interviews.

Yesterday brought cold, windy weather to northeast Georgia. That meant an extra quilt on the bed and a vat of beef stew to help keep us warm at dinner time. I also had time to catch up on my reading, just finishing 99 Girdles on the Wall, a very candid memoir by Elena Louise Richmond. Before my ARC arrived, she promised me "It's not chick lit." No, it certainly isn't.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend wherever you are.

Malcolm

 

Teaser Tuesday: ' The Comrades'

Today's teaser is an historical adventure by Lynne Sears Williams called The Comrades, available in paperback, Kindle and Nook.

The Teaser

"The road was dust upon dust, its air hot enough to flay a man's flesh from his bones and save his soul for breakfast. Puffs of air billowed over the horses' hoofs making the troop look like travelers to the Netherworld. An ill omen, some would say."

Publisher's Description

9th century Wales... Evan, king of Powys, returns from a wedding to find a village ransacked, with women and children dead. Neighboring Gwynedd has broken the peace, crossing the mountain to pillage and murder. The dead babes tear his heart, and Evan vows to break the heart of Gwynedd. Gwynedd's most guarded treasure is a pampered princess. In a bloody raid, Evan's comrades return to Powys with Gwynedd's heart. Evan knows holding the princess will be dangerous and her safe-keeping may mean the difference between the lasting peace he desires and a bloody war. He's prepared for her to be kept safe but unprepared for the girl's intelligence, compassion and damnably kissable mouth. "Evan took in the vision of a scarlet gown, which barely disguised the shapely form and a river of black curls that caressed to girl's waist. Oh, Lord. He wished he had ordered sackcloth." Morleyna's secret gift of Sight reveals a cruel betrayal that sends Evan on a mystical journey where he discovers his only chance for redemption rests in the hands of his captive. Her brothers will arrive to claim their sapphire-eyed sister. Will her kinsmen, bent on revenge, destroy Evan and his comrades? Or will destruction come from Morleyna who may be the reincarnation of someone whose beauty captivated a nation?

Show More

Show Less

How to Play

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

You May Also Like: Review: The History of My Body, by Sharon Heath on Malcolm's Round Table.

--Malcolm R. Campbell is the author of the contemporary fantasy "Sarabande."

Rest in Peace, Orange Kitty

When our seventeen-year-old orange kitty (aka "OK") died of old age several days ago, a friend sent a note to my wife saying that losing a pet can be almost as traumatic as losing a family member.

Only a pet owner can truly understand the truth in that sentiment.

After seventeen years, it seemed like OK had always been with us. When we adopted her, we adopted her with a black kitty (aka "BK"), and when we first brought them to the town-home we were living in at the time, they ran behind the refrigerator. We didn't see them for days. Since the food we set out at night was gone in the morning, we were hopeful that the kitties (as opposed to, say, wharf rats) were eating it.

Perhaps the funniest incident involving both cats came when my wife put on their leashes (which they did not like) and took them out on our second-floor deck. While OK wouldn't have jumped or climbed down into the woodsy back yard, BK might. (BK was good at climbing up and down ladders.) The ends of their leashes were tied to a light-weight deck chair.

Something spooked the cats, and they suddenly ran inside, one of them heading toward the stairs to the third floor, the other heading straight ahead toward the living room. Unfortunately, they dragged the chair with them just far enough for it to become wedged in the door leading outside. While they kept pulling, my wife couldn't immediately resolve the matter since she was trapped on the deck by the chair in the doorway.

Life with kitties includes many stories like that. BK died suddenly several years ago and that, of course, hit us very hard since it was so unexpected. OK's health began failing last fall. Ultimately, we were in a hospice care mode for the last several days. In many ways, the grieving began even before she was gone. I still expect to see her in all her usual places. I still think, hmm, almost time to feed OK or change OK's litter box or see if she will dart under the covers of the bed while I'm propped up there reading before turning off the light.

We will always miss her. We still miss BK and our first cat Needles. Each of them received a fair amount of our love along with random moments of humor. They all knew certain things were "wrong," and that meant they did them anyway when they didn't think we were looking. OK was the most fluffy and the most stubborn. She looked heavier than she was and her presence filled the house.

I hope she had a wonderful life.

Malcolm