I’ve been hearing a certain phrase lately in my travels across the internet, and it really bothers me. The phrase is simple, and there is a genuine question masked within it. However, this phrase also implies something that I don’t think is true…writing is not a zero-sum game.

The phrase in question is: But why would I want to share/tell/give [fill in the blank]?

Usually this has to do with promotion or marketing, or even the sharing of information. After all, if you give that great market tip to a certain group or individual, then what if they take advantage of it. Wouldn’t that be one less spot for your book, one less market for you to utilize?

Well, yes and no. It is true that publishers only have certain numbers of publishing openings a year. At some point market saturation is reached and the publisher simply can’t put out any more books either due to internal resources or external forces like how many books a reader will buy. So if writer A takes one publishing slot, that’s a position that writer B cannot take. Writer B can however take a different spot, either an additional release at the same time or one in a few weeks or months. And, the truth is, most publishers are always looking for new writers because we all know life happens. People get busy, move away from genres, etc., so the space which writer A might have held will become open at some point in the future.

The other thing to think about is that writers don’t exist in a vacuum. Many times we write because we were once readers who thought we could tell an excellent story. And we were right. *smiles* This means that while yes, you want to reach readers with your promotional efforts, frankly, I don’t think there’s any distinction between the writer-reader or the reader-reader (i.e. someone who doesn’t write books at all). Both groups read, and I bet if you did polling, both groups might even have the same amount of time to devote to reading, because just as the writer doesn’t write in a vacuum, so too the reader doesn’t read in one. She (or he) has a family, a job, a life, and frankly, other interests.

There’s also the fact that most writers can’t act upon every submission call he or she receives. Some aren’t interesting. Some aren’t in genres in which the writer works. And some, frankly, the writer runs out of time with. The same holds true with marketing information.

For the most part the writing community is an open and caring one, and that’s one of the beautiful things about it. And while many of us are vying for those few coveted spots with big publishers, in reality the publishing business has opened up so many new opportunities that other publishers or other formats might actually be the better fit for us and our work. For one writer to gain a publisher doesn’t mean that the other writer won’t get a contract at all. The world is big enough and fluid enough that there is no zero-sum, and while at times it can be win-lose, most of the time this business is win-win. Sometimes it just takes a bit longer or in a different direction from which we originally planned for that second win to come in. And that, my friends, is a blog post in and of itself.

It seems like a simple question, doesn’t it? Are you reading writer’s guidelines? Well sure, you say. You look at them. You follow them. Or at least you think so.

And yet, I receive submission after submission which clearly don’t follow guidelines. Now, if you don’t understand something, it’s okay to ask. Editors and customer service staff don’t mind receiving emails asking for clarification on something. I’d consider the mark of a contentious author.

And, there are those who won’t follow guidelines. I understand. I used to do tech support, and yeah, we had an acronym for that. RTFM. (Read the Frickin’ manual.) And yet, these people rationalize in their minds that they’re too busy or too important to do so. In the end, it ends up costing them time, productivity, and for authors, sales.

But you’re not one of those, I know. How do I know? You’re reading this blog. *smiles* So, are you reading the guidelines?

Here’s how to tell if you really are reading the guidelines:

• You are using a different word processor than Word (go you!), yet your submission isn’t in a .doc or .rtf file type. (Totally not saying anything bad about Open Office, WordPerfect, StarWriter, or any other processor. But .doc generally is an industry standard, and .rtf can be read by most word processors.)
• You paste the text in the body of the email when they request attachments.
• There are several different publishers listed in the email cc list, and yet you don’t state it’s a simultaneous submission. (Yes, we notice these things. And it also tells us that you haven’t targeted your submission.)
• You state you’re looking for a specific type of publisher, and yet, we haven’t published any books of that type.

The good news is that here at Pink Petal Books we read and review every submission, so as long as it hits our inbox, we’ll look at it. However, it’s also really important to read and follow guidelines. That’s a publisher’s first impression of you as a writer, and you always want it to be a good one.

I’ve always been a Type A plotter. I had spreadsheets and outlines. Character sheets and maps, and a host of information to guide me along the story and get my characters to a happily ever after. It’s how I worked. Sure, sometimes a character took the story off in a new direction, but eventually it found its way back to the plot and the story ended with a happy writer and happy characters. I didn’t think I could write by the seat of my pants, or be a “pantser” as it’s called in writing circles. I’d start a story, but with no road map, I had no idea where I was going.

And then I took a break from writing. When I thought I was done with it, moving into the new direction of nonfiction and other fiction genres, a story idea bubbled into my mind. I started writing, and then thought maybe I should stop and plot it out. No, keep writing, my muse said, and I did. And I found, the words flew faster. There was no “okay this is the scene I have to write now” happening in my head. The story seemed fresh and new, and I think it reads better.

I’m kind of converted. Another story idea came into my head, and it, too, demanded to be written. So I did. No plots, no outlines, no character sheets; I just rolled with it. And roll, or in this case, write I did.

Now, I don’t foresee giving up plotting all together. There’s another project I’m working on, and have been for a few years. I’m in the process of revamping it, of completely plotting the story anew. And yes, given the scope of this project, I’m plotting.

But for a different take on writing, and for the idea of just letting a story unfold and not quite knowing where it’s going, though you have an idea, I have to say, I like being a pantster. It’s wild and free and exciting, and I think that’s translating into my writing.

You may notice some of your favorite websites going dark today. Wikipedia and Reddit are two of the biggest names, but others, like Google, will be hosting information. You may wonder why SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act is bad. And you may also wonder why the only industries listed as being affected are movies and radio.

First, no one is saying that piracy is good. Piracy costs content providers a lot of money on an annual basis. Piracy hurts not just the “big” guys like bands and authors who are household names. It also hurts the little people who work for these companies because a loss of revenue means potential loss of jobs. However, no one knows how much revenue is lost, and it is wrong to equate one illegal download with one sale. I know, let me pause while the chorus of SOPA supporters gasp and sputter. But the truth is, we honestly do not know how many people would actually buy the work if they could. Some probably would. (We know, for example, that readers/listeners/viewers in foreign countries may pirate because the work isn’t available for legal electronic sale in those countries. They’d buy it if they could.) Now, even if the percentage is a small number, even like ten, five, or even one percent, the loss of revenue is big.

Secondly, most of us agree that something needs to be done. The problem is that technology has evolved faster than the law and the means to deal with piracy.

Third, we live in a global society. As much as we would love to have all countries follow the same copyright laws, we are all individual people and individual countries with our own belief about rules and law and justice. It is true that the majority of pirate sites are hosted outside the US because other countries (like Russia, the Grand Cayman Islands, and others) don’t enforce international copyright law. But a one-size fits all approach is like using a 2×2 piece of gauze. It might be too much for a pin prick and not enough for a gaping wound.

And fourth, every industry is different. You know what bugs me the most about mentions of online piracy and SOPA in main media outlets? No one ever mentions books! It’s all movies and music, RIAA, MPAA, blah, blah blah…. I don’t say that to be dismissive. Music and movies deserve the same copyright protection as books do. However, what movies and music do have are umbrella organizations which do not splinter different genres, different parts of the creative process, and different groups into separate entities, all of whom contain less numbers than a larger group might, and who must fight twice as hard to get their voices heard. Agents have the AAR. Publishers have the Small Publishers Access Network (or other publishing groups). Authors have groups based on their genre, or Novelists, Inc. (NINC) or the Writer’s Guild. But, all of these various groups have their own barriers to entry. (RWA, for example, is one of the genre-based organizations that let anyone join. The others have sales or contractual bars which must be met.)

But I’m also digressing on the bottom line here, which is the reason why we sport the banner on our homepage and why websites are going dark today…

SOPA is not good legislation. It does, as I explained to my significant other during a very interesting discussion about it (Up with Chris Hays on MSNBC, Sunday 01/15/2012 link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46004493#46004493), SOPA is like taking a sledge hammer and trying to hit a thumb tack. Yeah, you’re going to hit the thumb tack (you hope), but you’re also going to ruin your wall and possibly bloody your finger in the process.

Because really, SOPA is designed, and can only affect, US websites. Yeah, the guy from NBC (i.e. big, corporate conglomerate who is probably enmeshed in the old ways of doing business and not understanding that everything is changing) says it won’t. But US law can only affect what happens in the US. It’s like Vegas, but with more bickering and gridlock.

And if a court order (yay for more income to attorneys?) makes Google (for example) delist a piracy site, then guess what, Google is a US company and has data centers in the US, which makes its websites…wait for it… US websites!

The truth is the the technology to get around such blocks already exists and is being used in countries to get around the censorship put in place by opressive regimes.

The truth is, SOPA won’t stop piracy. As we authors are well aware, if someone wants to pirate, they will. The good news (?) of that is studies have shown that people are less likely to read a book or document they downloaded for free than one they paid for.

The truth is, a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work here.

And, the truth is, there are others who can explain this far better than I. *smiles*

For more information, please visit

http://americancensorship.org/

The Problem With SOPA (and how to stop it)

And the always informational and articulate boingboing.net (link: http://boingboing.net/2012/01/14/boing-boing-will-go-dark-on-ja.html)

Please act. Please contact your elected officials (and even those officials for whom you didn’t vote, but who represent your state anyway). And please, spread the word.

To quote Schoolhouse Rock: Knowledge is Power!

“Nothing sells your current book like your next one.”

“Build a backlist.”

“You have to keep putting out books so readers don’t forget you.”

All signs point to GO when it comes to productivity. Especially in the e-publisher markets, authors are pushed to write more and more. But at what point does being too productive become counter-productive?

Read more »

The truth is when it comes to trust in publishing no one lays it on the line more than the customer. It’s his or her dollars and his or her time which the publisher is entrusted with spending the right way. The reader hopes, for example, that an author’s second book will be as good as her first, or that a publisher will continue to have a dedication to detail and editing on each and every book produced. In the marketplace, the reader hopes that the publisher will be as considerate to his or her needs, such as by not using DRM or allowing multiple formats to be downloaded so the reader could start reading a book on one device and finish it on another, even if it means those two devices have different formats.

And there’s nothing other than the consumer’s buying power to hold the publisher or the author to those contracts of trust. Read more »

This is part three of our “trust in publishing” series, and the good news is the things that an author wants from a publisher are also many of the same things a publisher wants from the author. It may come as a surprise to think that publishers have a road of trust with the author. After all, publishers offer the contracts, so there are remedies if the trust is broken. However, there has to be some level of trust and positive feeling before the contract is offered, and it’s there that the publisher makes the first leap.

First, the publisher has to trust that the author has followed the writer’s guidelines and is polite and professional enough to notify the publisher if the work is accepted elsewhere (if it’s a multiple submission) or to have followed the request for an exclusive submission. Then, there’s the trust that once a story is contracted, the author is up to doing the requested edits. Then once the book is released, we have to trust the the author will promote the work to his or her best ability, to work on the next novel, and to protect his or her reputation.

If we go back and revisit the list of things the author has to trust about the publisher, we’ll see many of the same things.

• Adhere to the terms of the contract. In this case, the publisher trusts the author to respect the right of first refusal clause, if any, and to be truthful about the author’s warranty about the work being available by the author and that it is not infringing on any copyrights.
• Keep authors informed through a business loop. Publishers ask authors to keep us informed, too. Did you move? Do you need your payments sent somewhere else? How about an email address change? Or are you going to take longer than expected on edits. It’s okay if you do, just keep in communication.
• Do business honestly and not do anything to besmirch the name of the publisher or any authors associated with it. This one goes both ways.

The publisher also has to trust the consumer. The publisher trusts that the consumer will not illegally distribute or pirate work. There’s also the concern about reviews, making sure they are honest and fair, even if they’re not positive. And, the publisher trusts the consumer to deal fairly and be if not courteous, then at least professional in dealing with customer service.

The good news is that this road of trust runs pretty smoothly, as do most of them. Generally the author researches the publisher before making a submission, and the publisher researches the author before offering a contract. Customers have many choices for purchasing, and will generally chose the option that’s easiest for them.

Our final part on this topic is on consumers and how they have to trust both the author and the publisher. This road can be the most perilous, but it can also be the most rewarding as readers discover new authors and new stories.

A couple of things have happened this week that made me think again about trust in the publishing industry. I’ve been on the author side, and now on the publisher side, and I can tell you, trust is a two way street. When it’s there, both parties experience a synergy of ideas, inspiration, and a shared vision. When the trust isn’t there, it creates a frustrating, worrisome environment.

I’ll admit that on the publisher side I’ve been blessed with wonderful authors and staff members with whom I work. I can’t think of a better group of people. On the author’s side…well let’s just say publishing, like most things in life, also has a school of hard knocks. I’m going to break this topic into a few different posts. And right now, I’m going to talk about the roads of trust. We’ll travel down each of them in subsequent posts.

Read more »

I know I’ve talked about this before, and I try not to get involved in the “write to market”, “write what you love argument.” I believe each author has to find his or her own way and do whatever works. That said, in looking at my own writing (putting my author hat on here), I’ve noticed a trend and some changes that have happened, and for me, it’s clear that I need to write the stories that move and inspire me, not what is “hot” or popular. And frankly, a lot of that isn’t even fiction. (Again, this is what works for me.)

So my intent in writing this is simply to speak as someone who needs to write from the heart and to help encourage those who say, “but I can’t write _____”. It’s all right that you can’t write “fill in the current trend or money maker here”, and that you’re moved to write something different. Is it true that you might not make the money? Sure, to some extent it might be, but as someone who believes that you create your own reality, it’s also true that when you write from the heart, there’s a level of enthusiasm in promotional efforts that doesn’t go unnoticed. If you are passionate about something, then that is going to show when you talk about it, share it, etc. (And no, I’m not saying that those who write to market aren’t as passionate. They can be too.)

So how do you reconcile writing from your heart with the knowledge that you “should” be writing to market? Read more »

A twitter conversation led to the revelation that for a NY publisher, the cost of ARCs run in the $6-7 range. As a small press publisher, I looked at that and did the emoticon of o.O. Granted, there is something to be said for the efficiencies of the smaller scale. If I am publisher, editor, formatter, and file uploader, then I can do things all at once as opposed to shuffling files from one department to another. And, there’s something to be said for the wages earned by those in their respective departments at a larger publisher. So there’s time and money saved by having the work done all at once.

However, even with those differences, I found that we were able to do cheaper ARCs than a larger publisher. And I think the big difference is technology.

Before I delve deeper into the topic, I’d like to talk about in which genres we use ARCs. Read more »