Archives for posts with tag: publishing

Happy links for readers and writers

April 25, 2010 //
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The New Yorker has an article about ebooks and the iPad versus the Kindle and Amazon versus Apple and the publishers. As per usual, lots of input from the publishers in this article, not a lot from the readers who actually want to buy ebooks and are being put off by the trifecta: DRM, pricing higher than the paperback, unavailability due to delayed release or geographic restrictions. From the article: “Publishers’ real concern is that the low price of digital books will destroy bookstores, which are their primary customers”. Not readers, but bookstores. And this is why readers are being denied what they want at a time when there is burgeoning competition for their time in digital entertainment. (And I personally don’t think embedding video and audio etc in ebooks in the way to compete with other forms of entertainment; when I read, I want to read, not watch a video).

Don’t worry, Alot is here to help you with your minor grammar mistakes.

I can’t even pretend this is related to reading or writing, but people stuck in the wrong country need some plane humour right now. Don’t forget the mouse-over text.

Bad — correction, the worst — SF covers.

Does anyone remember choose-your-own-adventure books?

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Categories Reading fiction, Writing news, Writing tips and techniques

Happy links for readers and writers

March 21, 2010 //
2

A survey on how professional writers broke into publishing, part 1.

You’d think Amazon would have learnt this lesson the first time round…

Newsflash: people still enjoy reading. Who knew?

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Categories Reading fiction, Writing news

Writing round

December 3, 2009 //
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The End (of book publishing as we know it. Yet again). Over a year old, but a good read if you haven’t already. One of the books listed as a mega-flop (near the end) was one of my favourites of my personal reading year (Glass Books of the Dream-Eaters). A lesson in poor genre labelling? I wouldn’t have called it literary thriller/suspense but literary steampunk. Could it just be that it failed to find its audience because it was hard to categorise – another win for the marketers, a blow to authors who don’t fit neatly into categories…

Words Move Me. This is brilliant. Also an ad for the Sony Reader family. But brilliant. “Connecting readers around the literary moments they love.”

The yearly “best books of” are popping up. Here’s the NY Times 100 Notable Books of 2009. Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2009 came out so early, they apparently preclude any good books coming out for the entirety of November or December. Good Reads’ list is based on reader votes (Chalmers: “It’s just a damn popularity contest with you kids!”). The Guardian has picked some Books for Christmas (which at least is more honest than the ‘best books of the year, and gosh what a coincidence that our list comes out before the end of the year but just in time for your Christmas shopping…’).

They’re also have a Best Books of the Decade series, and are up to 2004. Here’s another decade list. Couldn’t you at least wait till next year? – Oh I SEE, this is the old millenium debate but for the decade. Of course.

And the best books in Audiobooks.

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Categories Writing news

Hello, new writers: do not pay to be published

November 20, 2009 //
9

So, there’s been massive blow-up over in romance writing world, as evidenced by the discussion at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books about the new Harlequin Horizons venture. It hit a nerve – it now has over 500 comments. The upshot is that Harlequin have started up a vanity press (not a self-publishing venture) and have now been dumped off the RWA list of recognised publishers. That’s pretty damn major.

I’m not a romance writer (nor a traditionally published writer), nor do I read romance much, so one part of me is merely watching the whole shebang with raised eyebrows. But I’m not dumb enough to think this can’t spread to other genres. Writers Weekly has been discussing the ever-lower rates offered to freelancers (insultingly low rates); writers’ work is being devalued and if other publishers see this make profit for Harlequin they may well also decide to “monetize their slush-pile”, as one commenter put it.

At least two commenters on that discussion said they had thought, before reading other people’s explanations, that they had to pay to get published.

Good God! I know I’ve said in the past on this blog that you shouldn’t expect millions from writing, but nor should you expect to pay out big bucks. If you too think you have to pay to get published but don’t want to read 500 comments to work out otherwise, here’s a summary:
Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories Writing tips and techniques

Writing round

July 20, 2009 //
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***shameless self-promotion***
You can get my latest book for only $1 until mid-August. Check it out.
***shameless self-promotion***

The Productivity Commission has issued its report on the book industry, and unsurprisingly has recommended that the government lift restrictions on the parallel importation of books. I have no idea how I feel about this, since both sides have been so overblown in their arguments that it’s really very difficult to have a clear idea of what the impact will be.

This opinion piece at least finally explains why Australian authors will lose out instead of just shrieking about it. In the SMH, an author argues for the lifting, rightly calling publishers out on their indignant claim that they won’t be able to ‘nurture and maintain’ local talent anymore (he says commercial realities mean they already can’t or don’t). And here’s a consumer’s opinion on it and the future of bookstores. The Articulate blog also links to one pro and one con argument.

We’ll see the true impact in a few years, I guess (if the recommended changes pass all reviews and voting processes). All I can say is, after the screaming fuss Dymocks has made about this, they better drop their prices if they get their way.

On a more positive cultural note, you can read the Codex Sinaiticus online – but only if you understand ancient Greek. Better to say, you can see this ancient manuscript, a historic copy of the Christian bible.

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Categories Writing news

Identifying writing scams

May 28, 2009 //
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New writers desperate to get published are easy prey for unscrupulous people who either accept work and somehow forget to pay, or who offer spurious services for outlandish prices, or who run poor-quality anthologies that take every submission and then charge contributors a huge amount to buy copies for themselves and their friends (poetry.com is a classic example), or who run expensive contests with small prizes. Some are easy to spot once you have a little experience; others are harder.

WritersWeekly’s Whispers and Warnings column is helpful in this regard, as is SFWA’s Writer Beware page.

However, it’s also useful to develop your own instinct for when something’s not right. A good rule of thumb is that you do not pay to be published (unles you’re self-publishing). Full stop. Do not pay to be published. A publisher should have enough faith in your work to take on the expenses, in the expectation of reaping profit from sales. If they’re charging you, it means they think there won’t be sales. Which then makes you wonder why they’re publishing the work – unless they make their money off you, not your work.

Let’s look at an example I came across the other day. I am in no way stating that this is a scam; however, I am saying that this has rung alarm bells for me and I personally wouldn’t submit to this market: iPulp Fiction.

The basic set-up is that you pay $10 to have your short story manuscript assessed by one of a list of readers: “We do not employ a large group of editors to read submissions. Instead, we use a network of independent readers who screen all stories and recommend the best to iPulp for final consideration. Manuscript readers are not employees of iPulp. They charge a reading fee of $10 per manuscript. That’s how they make a living. iPulp doesn’t make a cent through the submission process.”

This sounds fair enough. iPulp are able to consider many more manuscripts and keep their costs low by outsourcing what full-time editors used to do. You’re paying the readers directly, not iPulp itself, so how are they making money off you?

Here’s what rung alarm bells for me: There is no account given of how the readers are selected, and the readers do not supply any references or bibliographies to demonstrate what makes them experts in manuscript assessment. Their real names are given (in the addresses) so you could look them up to see if they’ve publicised their work experience or publications, but why not have it there on the site? How do we know these aren’t just friends or affiliates of iPulp, or in any way better able to pick a good story than anyone else?

I’m also not comfortable with this notion that iPulp have outsourced the submission process. They’re not making money directly off writers like the worst of the scam-artists; they are saving money on employees by contracting out one of the vital steps of publishing and making writers pay for it. If they had faith in their own set-up, why aren’t they paying the contractors?

For your $10, you get only either one step further in the submission process (ie iPulp will now actually read your work) or a rejection – there’s no critique for your money, and no guarantee that iPulp will accept the work once it has passed the reader. On the plus side, you only have to wait a month for a response (rather than months plural).

Lastly, iPulp offers a 40% royalty, which sounds good compared to traditional paper publishers, but is less than many ebook publishers.

These are the reasons I’m not comfortable with this market. Others may see no problem with it and find it sensible and easy; others may also baulk at some markets or contests I have submitted to in the past (some of which, too, I also shake my head at now). Each writer must make their own decisions.

For example, while I have a problem with this set-up, I have no problem with the $50 application fee the Hachette MS Development program is charging, though it’s hard to believe it really costs them anything near that much in admin fees for every single entry received. I couldn’t say why the $10 puts me off but the $50 doesn’t.

It’s a personal decision – but you can use the online resources given above to spot the most obvious, develop a sense of how their MO, and learn what rings your bells.

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Categories Writing tips and techniques

Writing round – late edition

March 29, 2009 //
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This post is dedicated to time-sensitive news that might have been best posted while I was enjoying my jungle hikes…

Firstly, the Australian Publishing Association has opened its 2009 internship program for applications…but most of the applications were due Friday. Some positions close later, so check it out if you’re looking for your break into publishing…or bookmark it for next year.

Read an E-book Week flew past while I was on holiday – but I did read an ebook, incidentally, because when better than when you’re carting your backpack around to save space and weight by going e with your reading material?

Due to moving continents and extended holidays, I haven’t written for almost two months…thank goodness I don’t have to write everyday. I have been plotting, however.

Also on the Articulate blog site, they discuss the parallel importation of books, with a link to the full draft discussion paper. If you’re an Australian reader or writer, you also have a stake in this, so don’t let the booksellers and publishers be the only one weighing in – submit your comments in writing to the commission. This one I’m NOT too late on – you have till mid-April to comment.

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Categories Writing news

Honesty in storytelling

March 5, 2009 //
5

My next few blog posts will be informed by some of the sessions I attended at the Perth Writers Festival. I’ll try to acknowledge the particular sessions and authors whose ideas and discussions helped me formulate each blog post where I can, though my notes did not extend to recording who exactly said what verbatim.

But this entry is devoted to something that I got generally from the festival across all the sessions I attended. This was the notion of truth in storytelling. Over and over again, authors spoke of being true to the story they were trying to tell, of making plot and character decisions with their eyes focussed firmly on what worked for the story over what would be popular or mainstream, of writing the best story they possibly could and letting the commercial/publishing chips fall where they may.

This was a sentiment that was incredibly refreshing for me to hear coming from successfully published mainstream (by which I mean, available in a bookstore) authors (though maybe they can afford to shrug it off and let the marketing department sort it out, since they’re already published and have a following…). It sometimes seems to me that the advice on writers’ sites and in writing books is so severely intent on the holy grail of getting published (writing as a business) that the notion of storytelling in itself (writing as an art) is lost, even derided as naive and foolish.

Some of the authors spoke of how the commercial concerns can be paralysing, if you’re constantly self-censoring (more on this next week) based on what might sell, whereas putting all that aside and being true to the story and the characters is incredibly freeing.

There is a hint, too, in the growing popularity of non-fiction, particularly memoir: people seek truth. Perhaps they are turning from fiction because the storytelling in fiction no longer illuminates the truth (or a truth) like it once did.

If there was a theme to this festival for me, it was the repeated mantra of truth in storytelling. Tell the best story you can. Read all the advice you like on the craft of writing (the nuts and bolts how-tos) and the business of writing, but the art of writing centres on sincerely telling the best story you can.

You can still listen to sessions at ABC Perth, and read more about the festival at its website.

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Categories The philosophy of writing, Writing tips and techniques

The purpose of the synopsis

January 22, 2009 //
5

I’m not going to re-invent the wheel here: go to the eloquent summaries at Writing World (under Pitching the Novel) for tips on how to write the quagmire of despair that is the fiction novel synopsis; make sure you also follow specific publisher instructions or guidelines too.

No, I want you to think about why you’re writing the synopsis, beyond the obvious reason (the ‘it’s the job application for your book’ reason). There’s several other motivations here, most related to the publisher, but some for yourself – which means you should write one even if you’re self-publishing.

Here’s why you should approach your synopsis with enthusiasm and good cheer:

1. It proves to the editor/agent that you can string sentences together.
This is a useful skill for a writer, but you’d be surprised how many slush-pile submissions show a distinct lack of it. Your synopsis should prove you have the skill to write a novel at the nuts and bolts level – check and double-check and triple-check for typos, grammatical errors, and weird sentence construction.

2. It demonstrates an interesting plot and compelling characters.
The synopsis should be like a taste of the novel itself. Many writers fall into the trap of writing an outline – a dry summary of the book – when what they really need to be doing is concentrating on the motivating themes, forces and connections that make the readers care what happens.

3. It shows you can sell your book.
No matter your publication route, you have to do your own marketing. The ability to describe your book succinctly and yet excitingly is a valuable marketing tool and publishers like to see writers who have a grasp of marketing tools.

4. It clarifies the themes and central motivations of the book.
Stepping back and reviewing themes and character motivations is so incredibly useful that writing the synopsis (especially the full, extended, chapter-by-chapter one) can result in revisions and edits to strengthen said themes. The synopsis is a publishing and marketing tool – it’s also a writing and editing tool.

Do not under-estimate the importance of the synopsis. Check writing sites for tips (try to find someone who likes writing the bloody things), get others to read and feedback on it (Evil Editor does this with snarky wit for public consumption), and be very clear on why you’re writing it (and its variations).

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Categories Writing tips and techniques

Who stands between the writer and the reader?

October 2, 2008 //
0

At Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, author Jennifer Echols posted this comment about fixing a story:

That’s what I’m generally doing in an edit: trying to predict where the story I’ve written has gone wrong in terms of jiving with the interests or fantasies of an agent or an editor. (Or a reader, you would think. But they really don’t count in this equation. In terms of an author getting a contract for a book, it doesn’t matter what the reader’s interests or fantasies are. It only matters what the agent THINKS the editor’s fantasies are, and what the editor THINKS the reader’s fantasies are, judging by previous sales.)

The agent and the publisher’s editor…and then there’s the publisher’s marketing department, who will cheerfully kill a book if they can’t figure out what genre to market it in, and the buyers for the big bookstore chains who also exert control over what’s published (since their decision to stock and/or prominently display a book has a huge impact on sales).

I read over 100 book a year (though I’m falling a bit short of that this year). About half of those are fiction, across the genres of general, literary, romance/chick-lit, and fantasy and SF – though I will read anything anyone hands me to try. Of those 50 novels, the vast majority are OK, in a range across forgettable to enjoyable; some are terrible, to my tastes, and some are brilliant, to my tastes. When I think about all the people who stand in the way of a writer who might write exactly what I want to read, and me…well, no wonder I couldn’t name more than five books from my reading last year that I genuinely adored without reservation.

That’s my reaction as a reader…as a writer, I do understand the need for books to pass through some kind of gatehouse that ensures a standard of quality to the reading public (then my reader self pipes up and wants to know how so much crap is published despite the multitude of gatehouses a book has to pass through, but never mind that). And I do, honestly, get the terror-inducing magnitude of the slushpile. But (you knew a ‘but’ was coming, didn’t you), the sheer height of the blockages put in a writer’s way seems like the book publishing industry wished they could remove the author from the whole equation.

For writers, what this means is that you don’t need to know your readers as such, you just need to know the popular elements of the bestsellers list (the market forces) – you have to play the game and second-guess your agent and editor while they’re off trying to second-guess book-buyers/readers. There’s no point whining, ‘But I just want to write good books and be done’ because it’s too hard to define what ‘good’ is.

That’s if you want to be mainstream-published of course. These days there’s alternatives to big publishers and hardcopy bookstores – self-publishing and small e-book publishers being the way I have chosen to go, because then I can define what I think is ‘good’. I don’t expect fame and fortune but then no writer can truly expect it. The problem still remains of how to reach the readers who would like my style (ie agree with my definition of ‘good’).

The whole thing disturbs me more as too-often disappointed reader than as a writer, but the question remains the same: if choosing to either read or write outside mainstream fiction, how does the writer find his or her niche readers and how do they find him or her?

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Categories The philosophy of writing, Writing tips and techniques
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