A while back L. Dean Murphy, a member of the Florida Writer's Association, asked me to write a piece for the FLW's newsletter on e-books vs. Tree books. Although I had written last November on the subject in this blog, he wanted some quick, pragmatic words on the subject addressed to writers. As my previous blog was addressed to readers, I was happy to comply.
As the piece will only be in print for the FLW's members, I asked Dean if I might not reproduce it here. He kindly said yes. So, here it is.
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By Steven Paul Leiva
special to Florida Writers Association’s The Florida Writer
First off, let me recommend my blog a Book by Any Other Cover: on eBooks and “Real” Books which is a bit of a think piece on the phenomenon of eBooks and the more emotional questions of the impact of eBooks on, what Edgar-nominated author Timothy Hallinan has called, “tree-books.”
As to pragmatic considerations an author might want to give to eBooks, it is most important to realize that eBooks are just another readable form for your work, a form that is gaining exponentially in readers, a form that is not likely to go away soon, if ever. And it’s a form that is going to change forever the publishing business, adding to the largely negative affect on brick-and-mortar bookstores that Amazon started with on-line shopping for “tree-books.”
If the eBook is a train that has left the station and is gaining speed, authors need to make the decision whether to jump on board or not.
It is important to realize, though, that eBooks are just a form to put your work in, they are not a magical gateway to financial success and literary fame. All the problems an independent author has had in publishing print books remain, and they are daunting, especially if you decide to self-publish—or as it has lately been called, “going the indie route.” As in the indie music scene or independent filmmaking, though, the producing of a product is not the big problem, it just takes smarts, hard work and money. The big problem is distribution and marketing.
That said, eBooks have an advantage over print books in that while it still takes smarts and hard work, it can be fairly inexpensive if you publish just for Amazon’s Kindle eReader. And the beauty here is, Amazon also becomes your distributor. If you want to be available on other platforms—Kobo, Nook, iPads, etc.—that will take even more smarts and hard work, but many independent authors are doing this.
I was lucky. Although I was contemplating publishing my out-of-print novel, Blood is Pretty: The First Fixxer Adventure, via Amazon, a fellow writer recommended a new publishing company, Crossroad Press (CrossroadPress.com), which had been set up by author David Niall Wilson to publish digital (eBooks and audiobooks) editions of authors’ back-lists. David agreed to bring out Blood is Pretty as an eBook, and has just released the audiobook version. He has now expanded into eBook originals and has published my follow-up to Blood is Pretty, Hollywood is an All-Volunteer Army: The Second Fixxer Adventure.
Although going with Crossroad Press took some, but not all, of the hard work out of the effort for me, and for which I am quite pleased about, the second half of the big problem remains—marketing.
Whether you self-publish as an “indie,” or you come out via a small publisher, it is most likely that neither of you have the marketing muscle of the big New York publishers. There will be no large budget, no marketing department, no publicists all dedicated to making your book a success. But then, even if you were published by a big New York publisher, you might not have much of that anyway, unless your name is James Patterson, or you’ve got your name attached to Mr. Patterson’s.
So the big problem remains—getting people to know about your book, and then getting them to buy it. I have no solution to this problem (I am looking for one myself)—but there are plenty of suggestions out there on a thousand blogs, almost all having to do with starting your own blog, taking up residence on many eBook-related chat rooms, etc. Writers have experienced a range of sales from such activity, from the negligible to, in rare cases, thousands of sales. I think in the rare cases some outstanding element—the author has a large backlist and built-in following; a newbie author hitting the Zeitgeist at the right time with a teenage vampire and/or werewolf and/or supernatural slightly erotic YA book—was the key. We don’t all have such outstanding elements.
Let me address something less pragmatic about this issue. I am a firm believer that the joy of art is in the doing. If you love to write, write then write some more, and feel the joy—that could be satisfaction enough. However, part of that joy is contemplating others enjoying what you have so lovingly and dedicatedly produced. In other words, it is natural for an author to want to spread the joy. That takes readers. You can only get readers by putting your work into a readable form that can be distributed at a reasonable cost. Making readers aware that your book is available for their consideration, even if you are published by a traditional publisher, will be your greatest task. Ah, I see the pragmatic has snuck back in.
Oh well, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it.
eBooks do offer an opportunity for a writer to publish independently. Without the costs of paper, ink, binding, etc. (my professional bailiwick) a writer just needs to use the tools he already uses to just write! BUT, if you want someone to read, you have to figure out how to get readers to find your writing and (hopefully) buy it from the hundreds of thousands of offerings that the new eBook phenomenon presents. As you said, that's teh greatest task.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just have to put my 2-cents in whenever I read someone who quotes Super Chicken.
Fred: Sorry Super Chicken, that wasn't super sauce, it was steak sauce.
Super Chicken, Well done, Fred, well done.