Welcome to the New World of Publishing

By now I’m sure you’ve all heard that Borders is going out of business. Immediately. It’s sad and it’s the end of an era.

But, in spite of all the press the demise of the bookseller has gotten, I’m not sure if people really understand the implication. I am a writer. I’m not a published writer … yet … but I feel as though I have something of a vested interest in these sorts of changes going on in the publishing world. So, let me share a little bit with you about the radical changes happening in the publishing world that you might not be aware of.

If I worked for a traditional publishing house or as an agent I would be very, very worried about my job right now. Because there’s a real chance that those jobs could go bye-bye, just like Borders. We are balanced on the cusp of a whole new era in publishing, my friends. It goes by many names. Some are calling it ePublishing, some Indie Publishing, and some Author-Centric Publishing. And it’s all thanks to two little devices called Kindle and Nook.

You see, for many, many years this is the way it’s worked. An author writes a book.  Said author then shops the book around to agents. This usually involves sending out hundreds – you heard me, hundreds – of query letters to various agents discovered either online, in books compiling agent information, or at writers conferences. I know one now-published author who sent out 200+ queries before finding an agent.

Once you found the agent they then may (or may not depending on the agent) do an edit of your book. Then they shop it around through their industry contacts to publishers. This process can take years. Yes, years. If that book is lucky enough to be picked up by a publisher then the author signs a contract, the book is published, and it is slated for release. Again, this process can take a year. 

With a traditional publishing contract the publishing company collects about 80 percent of the profits while the author gets roughly 20 percent, which they then split with their agent. This is very oversimplified, by the way as there are advances against royalties and such involved.

Once the book comes out, the publishing company may spend about two weeks promoting it for the vast majority of their authors. There is no guarantee then that any subsequent books will be picked up by the publisher. In other words, once you publish your first book you start back at square one. I read recently that something like 85 percent of authors only publish one book.

But now things are changing. Indie Publishing is a whole different ballgame. When an author chooses to publish independently in theory all they need to do is post their manuscript on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com or a scattering of other eBook sites. There is no judge of content. Anything at all can be put up for sale.  The author sets the price. Most serious authors set the price of their books at 99 cents right now. And here’s the kicker. Amazon, for example, takes a cut of 30 percent of sales, leaving the author to pocket a whopping 70 percent. AND the author retains all rights to their work. With traditional publishing the publishing company owns all rights to your work for a length of time specified in the contract.

BUT! When an author publishes independently they have to do all of the promoting themselves. This can amount to running a small business. They alone are responsible for marketing their work. Also, there is no built-in editing process. Yes, this means that 90 percent of the books published electronically are and will be complete and utter crap. EVERY book needs editing. We, as authors, completely lose perspective on our work and need a pair of professional, merciless eyes to judge it.  This is why the smart agents and editors out there will start offering their services as freelance editors. Freelance editors can charge anywhere between $60 to $250 an hour for their services. But they are absolutely necessary. You can put whatever you want up for sale on Amazon, but word-of-mouth is king and if your book sucks no one beyond your closest family and friends will buy it. If you want people to buy your book you have to write a damn good book.

Now some of you may be shaking your head and thinking “I love my paper books and nothing could ever replace them! I don’t want some cold electronic device. I like the feel of turning pages.” And I agree with you. But I’m not listening to music on cassette tapes anymore, nor am I watching movies on VHS. Case in point: my best friend Kristine is a book-lover. She turned up her nose at eReaders. Until her Dad got her a Kindle for her birthday. She went from major Kindle naysayer to not being able to put it down. She also told me last week that she read six books in June, which is three times as many as usual. Guess what, authors? People are buying more books! What’s more, kids love gadgets. Kids will read books on cool gadgets.  Kids will read! This is the future, folks.

Traditional publishing companies have not caught on yet. It’s something we all know in this business. They are in denial. Why? Because there was a time when anyone who self-published was instantly considered a pariah. If you self-published no publishing company would take you seriously. I mean that with all due seriousness. I was at the Philadelphia Writers Conference in June attending a
workshop on marketing yourself in the new media and someone asked “When did
that change?” The answer, given to us by the triumphantly smirking workshop leader was “January.” Folks, this is a brand-new world. There are authors out there who are making millions, you heard me, millions of dollars selling their eBooks.  They are still a very, very few. The vast majority will never sell more than a few hundred copies, if that. But times are changing. Borders didn’t see
that. Amazon and Barnes & Noble are to Borders and other book stores as Netflix is to West Coast Video and iTunes is to Tower Records. Welcome to the 21st century!

And so I close this blog entry with a bit of shameless self-promotion. I write historical romance and romantic sci-fi. This September I will be ePublishing my novel "The Loyal Heart," which is set in 1192 in Derbyshire, England and tells the story of a swashbuckling heroine and the dark hero who loves her. I would never be able to sell this book traditionally because publishing houses aren’t interested in medieval historical romance. They only want to publish paranormal romance about vampires and werewolves right now (thank you Stephanie Meyers - NOT!). So I’m going it on my own. I’ve hired a freelance editor to work it over so it will be damned good. And I’ve been marketing myself on facebook in advance of publication. 

I have chosen to embrace the new world. I hope you’ll join me and all author-pioneers on this journey.