The Future Of Self Publishing

Hi Guys,

This time I think it's time for me to apologise for a whole new mistake - posting blogs too often! (Yeah I know - it's never happened before and it probably won't happen again!)

 

However I felt inspired by a number of questions that have been asked on some of the writing fora to which I belong, and I thought I might take a stab at answering them. Or mostly just answering one question - where is self publishing going in the next few years?

Obviously trying to guess what's going to happen in even the next five years in this field is rather like trying to shoot a moving target with a bow and arrow while blind folded, but still it occurs to me that there are some trends that we can see happening already.

1. The first of them is that the age of the free ebooks, and perhaps even the 99c ones is probably going to come to if not an end then a slow down.

The reason for this is simple marketing. For a couple of years now Amazon has been happy to have books sold for nix. To take a minor hit on each sale. And the reason for this is simple. They want to sell their ebook reader, the Kindle. The loss they take on giving away books has been more than offset by the additional kindle sales. However this can't last.

Already we saw earlier this year the change in the Amazon algorhythms such that every free book 'sale' counted for only one tenth as much of a bump in the sales / author rankings as before. While dearer books gained an increased bump. The reason for this? Amazon makes money from selling books for money, not giving them away. And at some point they clearly decided that the value they were getting from the giveaways in terms of kindle sales was losing out to the losses they were taking in terms of gaining no revenue from the freebies and the hits they were taking when readers chose free books over ones they had to pay for.

My thought is that this trend will continue. Freebies will still exist in some form or another, and certainly on other sites, but the big online retailers will continue to move away from them. In the end there are only so many kindles you can sell, and when Amazon's competition for ebook readers includes not just other ebook readers but pads, laptops and now phones, that limit will be reached.

2. My next prediction is that there will be a rise in the numbers of people and organisations providing services for indie authors. It is inevitable that as more and more people realise that they can write books and publish them, the demand for these services will increase. So that's editors, cover artists, promoters, reviewers etc.

But to balance the good with the bad, as well as these there will also be those rip off artists I mentioned in a previous post - the vanity publishers as they were once known. (And probably still are.) As more and more people discover that they can write a book and then become desperate to publish them, the sharks will find more to feed on.

And I urge you all to remember the golden rule, as an author the money should always flow to you. You should never have to pay to be published. If someone says they will publish your book for x dollars, walk away.

3. The numbers of both authors and books both will increase. This is inevitable as more people decide that they can write a book and publish it, and those already in the business write and publish more, while at the same time everything that's digitally published remains out there for potentially centuries.

So what does this mean for those who want to write? It means more competition. More books out there in the same genre's competing with whatever they put out. It means that average incomes for indie authors (and trade published authors) will sooner or later fall. They have to as readers spend more money across a wider range of books, the amount that goes on each will decrease. There is only so much money to spend after all.

And what does it mean for readers? Greater choice than ever before - which is great. But at the same time greater difficulty finding books worth reading.

The solution for both however is the same. Those authors who want to sell more will have to concentrate on producing better quality books. This means better editing, better cover design, more professional formatting etc. More and more quality will have to become the indie author's byword. And the hope is that those authors who produce works of higher quality will find greater readership and gain a fan base.

The days I think when marketing campaigns, adds in various media etc, dropping prices and dumping huge loads of spam in peoples' in boxes will bring in large jumps in sales are numbered. In the end you can't sell a turd. (Although from Mythbusters we now know that you can polish one!) Already we are seeing that the numbers of pick ups of free books are declining. Readers are starting to realise that even free is sometimes too high a price to pay for a book. Readers are smart and it would be a foolish author who forgets that and tries to publish something that isn't ready.

Anyhow, those are my predictions.

Cheers, Greg.

Another Month - Another Book.

Hi Guys,

As usual an apology for posting so seldom to this blog, but also as usual, another excuse! This time no - the dog did not eat my post. Instead on the 14th of July I felt somewhat inspired and began a new book. A week ago 82,000 words were typed and sent off for editing. Which is I think pretty fast for a first draft. However from the comments already heard back, there may be some extensive rewriting required! Bugger!

However Doorways is at least drafted and I'm grateful for that. While I am able to write very quickly when the muse takes hold, it does come at a cost. Little things like sleep, most tv shows and dvds and fairly much everything else that takes up my normal days have to be drastically cut back.

For those of you who may be interested it's a science fiction novel but contains the one thing that has been severely lacking in sci fi until now - elves! (High tech elves of course! - And they're quite mean too!)

It's a parallel world story which I based in part in the city where I grew up - Wellington. Which for those of you thinking about basing your writing on cities you grew up in, has unexpectedly become a minor headache. It turns out that while I know Wellington of the 1980's and early 1990's quite well, Wellington 2013 is apparently quite different. Updating my knowledge through my family and Google has been a challenge.

Still it has been done and I hope to have it published in another month - which will be a huge relief since I'd like to go back to blobbing out in front of the idiot box for a while! Sleeping would also be a welcome activity.

Cheers, and as always - be good or don't get caught.

Greg.

Does a Serious Writer Have To Publish?

Hi guys,

Busy month for me as I've been writing and turning another ebook into a paperback on CreateSpace. But the finished product looks great I'm pleased to say, and I can't wait until a copy is in my hands.

Still this process, not to mention the pile of paperbacks I just received in the post all written by my favourite author - ME!!!, got me thinking. Why go to all this trouble? Do I really need to in order to be a writer? And then a related question came up on one of my writing forums and so this blog was born.

So I thought that this time I'd turn my attention to the role of publishing in a writer's life. And here I'm not just talking about the transition from writer to author here, I'm talking about the advancement of the writer in his craft.

First let me say that I agree that there is a time for publishing and you can do it too early. And self publishing is not something that should be just an automatic reflex. Whether you self publish, put your work out in blogs, or go the trde publishing route, as an author you have to constantly strive to produce the best work you can before publishing. I think too many people see self publishing as an easy road. It's not. It's far harder than having an agent and a trade publication deal. There are so many skills to master for the self publisher that the traditionally published author never learns.

So to those of you thinking of taking this road, do not think of it as quick and easy. To quote Dogma (one of my favourite movies) "Prepare Thyself."

But I think everyone who considers themselves a serious writer needs to be aiming always at getting his writing out there to be judged by an audience. And when I say aiming, I mean more than just dreaming, wishing and hoping. I mean that you as a writer you have a plan and you have resolved to complete it. Writing is in the end a communicative art, and if you don't get your work out there somehow you're not communicating. It's like a painter sitting in his room painting only for himself. Or an actor practicing his craft eternally by himself, but never going on stage. Until you do that, until you put your work out there for others to read, you're not just not an author, you're also not really a full writer. There is something missing.

So my advice to all serious authors is that you have to commit yourself to publishing, however you can. And for many of us that will be by self publishing. But for those of you who decry the self publishing route, I say never say never. Every author needs to have an audience and spending year after year amassing piles of "Dear Sir, Thank you but -" letters is not getting yourself an audience. It's not helping you to advance your craft.

Then once you've published "Prepare Thyself" all over again for the roller coaster that will follow.

Once you've got your work out there, in whatever manner you can, then your entire world changes. Before you even published, but after you'd truly committed yourself to the journey, there were all the things you probably as a writer writing a story didn't think so seriously about. Editing, covers, formating, marketing. Knowing that you're going to take that step pushes you to master these things. And do not underestimate the amount of work that that will take. For some of us, me again, learning to create a cover was like a fish learning to fly. Still is actually, and though I'm pleased with what I can produce these days, I can't wait to see what I'll be able to create in say - ten years.

But that's only the begining. Then come's the feedback. Sure it's not all good and I've had my fair share of hit and runs, but in the end it's what you need. The good the bad and the strange. That feedback even when it rubs you the wrong way and leaves you bleeding on the floor, will help you to lift your game in a way that nothing else can.

Sitting at home sending out query letter after query letter, most of which will never be answered, and working on your next book can't do the same thing for you. In fact it can even become disabling. There is a certain comfort in being able to send out letters and have them come back 'no' or not at all with no explanation. It's safe. It's a rut which you can get stuck in. It's never nice getting a 'Dear Sir thank you but' letter, but after a while you get used to it and you can return to your dreaming about when one day you will be published instead of biting the bullet and actually putting your work out there.

So yes, my advice is that if you want to be a serious writer you have to always know it will be published and will see an audience. You need a plan, and one with achievable goals that you know you will achieve. You can't allow yourself the luxury of simply writing whatever you feel like forever and dreaming about 'one day'. That is a certain road to never becoming a serious writer.

Cheers, Greg.

Why Self Publish? Who benefits?

Hi Guys,

This time I thought I'd turn my attention to one of the never ending questions that seems to plague the world of self publishing - Why?

This week we've all heard the news about Jasinda Wild, a husband and wife writing team who have sold a million books in a year through self publishing, and somehow written twenty books in six months - to my mind an even more impressive achievement. My hat is off to them for that.

And in terms of the question why well it's easy enough to see that in their case. A year ago they were in desperate financial straights and self publishing gave them a way out for them and their family. That's not to say that they couldn't have achieved similar success through trade publishing - I'm sure they could have. But I'm equally sure that they could not have achieved that success in the same short period of time.

However, in considering this question it occurred to me that when people ask this question - and then end up arguing (often stridently) about the merits of self publishing versus trade publishing - they overlook the reader. Now here we have an example of a writing team who have achieved huge success and provided for their family etc. And that's as it should be. But here we also have an example of a million people sitting down to read self published fiction.

So lets move past what this impressive achievement means for these writers and their family, and the merits in the wider world of publishing, and consider the reader. Consider a million readers. Self publishing has benefitted them since they get to read books that they might not have been able to read at all before, or if it did finally get published through traditional means, not for probably years to come.

That's something that I think gets lost in the arguments. Self publishing benefits the readers as well as the authors.

The reader gets access to a wider range of books, some dross (not mine of course!) some good. They get to read things that would never have seen the light of day through trade publishing, because agents and publishers acted as gatekeepers, and essentially decided for readers what they wanted to read. And they get to do it at a generally far more reasonable price, partly because it's often digital books we're talking about, but partly because all the monies that were going to publishers, editors, agents, marketers etc, now go straight back to the author, who then doesn't have to charge so much.

So hats off to Jasinda Wild. But hats off also to the million readers who purchased their books and hopefully were entertained as they wanted to be.

Cheers, Greg.

Writing, rip offs and boutique publishing.

Hi Guys,

New topic this time - writing, and more specifically rip offs.

As some of you will know I contribute to a number of writing fora, partly out of interest and partly to learn a little more of my craft. And on these fora I often find myself fascinated by what other writers have come across in their journeys. In particular a week or so ago I came across a post in which a new writer had decided to take his first steps into the world of publishing through a boutique POD publisher, all for the one off price of $2000.

Now this is not a new thing. Prior to the advent of Amazon's Kindle many people used to use vanity publishers as they were called, desperate to get into print any way they could. And it almost never worked. They got a few bound copies of their book, the book never went anywhere near a bookstore, no one ever heard of them, and their pockets got lightened. I have actually heard horror stories of people paying a lot more than this guy.

However, I have to wonder how these companies still operate, and more importantly, why people still use them.

It seems to me that these companies basically prey on the vulnerabilities of people. That they offer services to those who are desperate to see their books in print and too gullible to realise that they can now do everything for themselves for free. In short they prey on the same people they always have. But the question is, why are these people still unaware of self publishing? Or as an alternative, if they are aware of what they can do, why do they feel they need someone else to do the publishing for them? Is it just timidness? Lack of confidence?

My thought is that in the last few years the world of writing has changed significantly. Self publishing has taken hold and an entire new universe of written words has appeared on our computer screens and smart phones. And while many people may pour scorn on the self publisher for not having a traditional deal with an agent etc, it does not change the fact that a great many new books have arrived which would never have been seen without it. Sure some of it may be crap, much of it may not be up to the standards of a trade published work, but there's a trade off. For a long time agents and publishers have been gate keepers to the world of what people read. They decided what people could read, because lets face it, if they thought a work wasn't commercial, they didn't publish it. Those days are gone and I think that's a good thing.

However to return to the topic at hand and boutique POD publishing, I'm guessing that not everyone has caught up with the writing revolution. And I'm also guessing that the world being what it is, there will always be desperate people, aching with every fibre of their being to see their book in print. I understand this, and prior to the self publishing revolution I was one of them, just thankfully a little too smart to fall for the sharks out there. (Though I did get a couple of letters from one such shark early on.)

So my message to all those out there desperate to see their work in print (or on a digital screen) is don't fall for this. The golden rule for all writers when publishing must be that you are the writer. It's your work. The money should always flow to you. It doesn't matter whether its a lot or a little, you don't pay. So if an agent comes back at you with a "reading fee", don't go there. Chances are he's not legit. If a publisher offers to print your book for a few thousand bucks, definitely don't go there.

And if you don't really understand the world of publishing, don't know what to do, and are frightened of taking that plunge half arsed, just keep these words in mind - You Can Do It.

It may require some new skills, editing and cover design being top of the list for any self publisher, but these are things you can do. Skills you can gain for a little effort. Or if you are truly desperate and don't have any friends or family with the ability, skills you can hire as you need them. And usually for a lot less than a POD publisher will charge.

Also, join some writing fora. They are invaluable.

Cheers, Greg.

Life Isn't Like A Video Game - Bugger!

Hi Guys,

Once more apologies for the delay in posting - but this time I have a legitimate excuse. I'm on dial up and something went badly wrong with the line a couple of weeks ago. As usual I blame the electric fence of the farmer next door, though the telecom man didn't seem so sure. Either way the upshot is that having had a repair done I'm now on a temporary patch, there's noise on the line, and an already diabolically slow connection has slowed to a crawl. (You don't want to know how long it will take to post this post!)

Anyway progress is being made elsewhere. Of Dark Elves and Dragons has been put out in paperback through CreateSpace, and while I'm pleased with it I'm in two minds about the cover. To my eyes it looks great, especially the text, but that's in full size. As a thumbnail the text looks blurry simply because the shadow I added to the text is unable to be seen clearly. So I have a decision to make I guess. Whether to sacrifice a text effect that adds punch to a full size cover or to accept that the effect will make the thumbnail sized text look out of focus. - The trials of self publishing! (I'll bet Terry Pratchett never has to worry about these things!)

The next book to go through the process of editing in preparation for printing to paper is Dragon, which is already with my sister.

In the meantime I've found myself with a little free time these past few days, and have fallen back into bad habits - otherwise known as playing RPG's. (Mostly Skyrim and Neverwinter Nights, but also some Arcanum - a brilliant game that doesn't seem to run too well on any OS more recent than 98.) And while playing and watching my fingers getting shorter from all the button mashing, I suddenly realised that I wish life should be more like some of these games. Maybe not the monsters, but there are some brilliant ideas in gaming that are lacking in real life. Things that I think we need to start working on.

First of course, and here I speak as a red blooded male, why do we not have a lot more highly attractive babes in tight fitting, skimpy leather outfits walking down the streets? For me at least this would be a welcome improvement in reality. Of course I may not be the most photogenic of people myself, and I doubt anyone would want to see me in a skimpy, body hugging leather outfit! - Not even me!

Then there's the health potions. Here I get sick I have to see a doctor, take pills, maybe have an operation, spend lots of time recovering etc. How much simpler would it be to just drink a health potion and be done with it! Come on scientists get inventing - we need this.

Naturally there's the superhuman aspects of your characters. In real life I doubt I could even crawl up a mountain. In Skyrim I can just run up one. I love that. And I love the long floating jumps you can make as you sail off walls and staircases. It's not flying but if someone could invent that for real it'd be almost as good.

Roller skating monsters - players of the Neverwinter series of games will know what I mean. Not that I want monsters in real life, but seriously how cool is it to watch an orc simply roller skating towards you, axe in hand.

Disintegration! Grief any magic would be awesome, but of all the spells this one from Arcanum is the coolest in my view. Simply watching your PC standing there, the circle of light forming around his feet, running along the ground, and then zapping your enemy so that there's nothing left - it's brilliant. Of course if I had this spell I'm not sure I could be trusted not to use it every so often - so brilliant for me, not so much for everyone else!

Playing with weapons. In real life they're heavy and I'm clumsy, not to mention completely untrained in swinging a sword. But anyone whose played Dungeon Siege will now how impressive it is to simply be able to pick up say a quarterstaff and swing it around like a martial artist with the push of a button. No training or fitness required. I so want to be able to do that, but I don't want to spend years training to do it.

And then of course how simply wonderful would it be to wander down the streets and see elves and orcs and dwarves and gnomes walking the streets with you? Seriously someone needs to get to work on inventing these races for real!

So anyway, that's my short list of some of the things in RPGs that have real life beat. I'm sure you all have your own.

Cheers, Greg.

The Man Who Wasn't Anders Voss - The Idea.

Hi Guys,

To start April off with a bang I published a new book - The Man Who Wasn't Anders Voss and I thought I'd share something about the book with you. Mostly I thought I'd share where the concept for the book came from.

As a writer I sometimes get asked where I get my ideas from, and in this case it is - and I'm proud to admit it - Star Trek.

This book began with one of the unexplained and potentially unexplainable mysteries about the show - the transporter. How does it work, and more importantly if it does work how is it that the guy being transported, having his atoms scattered through space and reassembled somewhere else, survives?

As a trekkie this has been one of the questions that has puzled me for a very long time. I mean it's fairly obvious that if you disintigrate someone into their composite atoms, they die. But then somehow when the atoms get put back together somewhere else, they live again. And that of course leads to the next question - how do you know that the person assembled elsewhere is the same person that was dissassembled?

So my take on this was that they aren't. That the transporter in fact kills the person sent and a completely new person with the old person's memories and features is created. In short a copy.

Naturally this wouldn't make for a good story. Not if the copy was in fact completely convinced that he was the original. Then as far as he was concerned and the rest of the universe, he would be the original. Only the original woul know better and he of course would be dead.

So that lead to the next key idea in the book. What if the copy in fact knew he was the copy? Then we end up in a whole new world of possibilities and plot elements, and key among them, identity.

All of us are blessed with one certainty in life - we are who we are. It never occurs to us that we might in fact be someone else. Other works have touched on this idea, that we might in fact be someone other than the person we think we are. That we might have say been brainwashed, or had amnesia. But the transporter gave me a whole new vehicle to examine this possibility, and to look at the conflicts it creates.

Identity is crucial to us. It is who we think we are. It is the one thing we never consider we could be wrong about. But if we were a copy of a man, perfect in every way, and so every memory we have is of being the original, but at the same time we also have the additional memory of the original having died and of being created from his remains, what would that do to us? Could we call ourselves by the name of the original even though we know we aren't him? Can we consider his family as ours? What about his actions, both good and bad? Can we truly be held responsible for the crimes the original migt have committed? Can we accept the credit for the good things he did?

So in large part this book is an exploration of those questions. Of the struggle of a man to decide whether he is in fact the original or is a new man.

And then of course I threw in some aliens, a transporter that doesn't work perfectly, and a rather nasty scientist with a God complex!

So that's where the book goes, and I hope that those who read it will find themselves asking many of the same questions as I have in writing it.

Cheers and as always, be good or don't get caught! (And if one is ever invented do not step into a transporter!)