I lingered round them
-
I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering
among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing
through the...
Hace 5 horas
Asking for exceptions for book publishers in the name of Culture is like asking for exceptions for high furnaces in the name of Chillida.
Amazon has every right to refuse to sell consumer goods in response to a pricing disagreement with a wholesaler. Authors United Open Letter to Amazon's boardBut, of course, for books. Because, again, the wannabe pseudopoet waking me up early in the weekend is more worthy of respect than a retired iron foundry hand. Or a musician. Or a painter. Author's United last salvo is a Child's firework gone dud. At best. Even considering that US law is, as seen from here, pretty lenient about public disclosure of private data. And AU keeps insisting that they're THE main product Hachette sells. Meanwhile, they keep insisting that Traditional Publishing (imagine, since I couldn't find it, the bagpipe entrance in 'Dead Poet's Society': Tradition! Excellence!) can do all those other things. You know, all those things that make up for that 85% of income: covers and packaging, editing, manufacturing (aka. printing and binding), distribution... Things that, by and large, legacy publishing fails to do properly and that, by and large, are exactly the same than for razor blades or shoes. AU doesn't agree, of course:
We all appreciate discounted razor blades and cheaper shoes. But books are not consumer goods. Books cannot be written more cheaply, nor can authors be outsourced to China. Books are not toasters or televisions. Each book is the unique, quirky creation of a lonely, intense, and often expensive struggle on the part of a single individual, a person whose living depends on his or her book finding readers. This is the process Amazon is obstructing.That paragraph has so many lies that it can grant you a couple of eternities in Purgatory. Sentence by sentence:
Although some did, kind of, cater to their customers... a bit. With Balzac included, just in case they could get expelled from the guild.
- We have 11,000 books. We are not here to be the dustbin for Trierweiler and Hollande
- This bookshop isn't planning on becoming an outlet for Ms Trierweiler’s dirty laundry
Apologies - we don’t have Valerie Trierweiler’s book but we do still have some Balzac, Dumas, Maupassant, etc...Meanwhile, at amazon.fr... 20 EUR te hardcopy, 14.99 the ebook. Oh, the evil empire, how cunning it is... And I don't give a damn who she is. I barely remember Hollande, much less his ex. But she's a writer. With readers. One would think bookshops could use the publicity of having new people in, buying her book, maybe some others. But, of course, that would be marketing, business sense... We don't do that, do we? Take care. EDIT: Evil empire link added. Because when bookshops insist on purity... and fail, it's an amazon's war casualty. Nevermind that Virgin is the one that butchered Oldfield. Or that it's English (and if you don't think that's important, you don't know about the French and English... tradition). Borders, remember?
Orbit is the new Science Fiction and Fantasy imprint at Hachette Book Group. Hachette Book Group (HBG) was created when Hachette Livre, a global publishing company based in France, acquired Time Warner Book Group from Time Warner in 2006.From Hachette's group porfolio. Orbit's been with them since Time Warner sold its publishing arm. That 2006 over there. But it's new. 8+ years later. No wonder they're still catching up to ebooks. Take care.
Sorry, but this page isn’t available. To see the great Kobo offerings that are available where you are, go here: http://store.kobobooks.comYes, sure. And then, I'll have to go to the homepage (which geolocates and doesn't allow for english titles), search Melissa Yi (from scratch, it doesn't keep what you were looking for originally) and hope. Oh, yes! Now... "add to library", register, download... Look, it even allowed me to! No, it wouldn't be the first time it kicks me out when it discovers that, gosh, I'm not buying from CONUS. It's unacceptable. And one of the reasons I don't use B&N. Everybody out there with B&N books? I'm not using it because I've tried a couple score times and I've always been greeted wtith the same "not available in your zone" message. Even with books I know are not maimed by distribution agreements, licenses and such. And part of the problem is the language. It's dry, bureaucratic. It leans to a "and don't waste our time, you nobody" vibe that is... counterproductive when someone is trying to buy something from you. Why are those messages, often introduced by something that is the seller's fault (*), drier than a 70's syntax error? Compare with this. Sure, some of them are basic. Standard server ones. But people try to give you a certain good feeling when they know they're closing a door on your face. Kobo, B&N... No, they're too classy. That would imply customer relations with... gosh... readers! Plebeians! Take care. (*) Because, if it weren't, then I wouldn't be able to get those books anywhere else.
that argument is bogus and here's why: saying that an e-book price should be based only on material, labor, and overhead is as ridiculous as saying that the price of a artwork should be based only on the cost of the paint and the canvas. What about the artist's blood, sweat and tears?Why do "artists" think that their blood, sweat and tears are special? Why is the wannabe poet that woke me up this morning's sweat any more precious than that of the guy who reaches retirement with back aches all through the day, week after week, because he's been abusing his vertebra carrying iron since he was 14? Also, she's introducing something in the argument. Amazon doesn't say that ebooks should be free, which is what would happen if you only accounted for costs (ask project Gutenberg). It does say that the extra costs once the book is typed are much lower for ebooks. And that should reflect on price. Also, about the "curator's argument" (that part about "their graphics department"), check my link on Mr. Pietsch above, search for "curator" (or, second list, first item) and follow the link. You know what? Easier for you. See this. Then comes a line I'd never really expected to read from a wri... author. Not a current one, at least.
because my publisher basically takes care of everything so that I can focus on writing and not worry about anything else.Do that. Write. Don't worry. This comes from someone who's been at the peak of the world, felt its freedom. Either she did that having someone else "take care of everything" and simply focused on climbing, to the absolute exclusion of everything else, or she does it when in the lowlands. And she willingly surrenders her voice. When one surrenders his voice, he can't get surprised if it's taken over. If Hachette "takes care of everything", then Hachette takes care of complaining. Basically, shut up and soldier. You enlisted. This is where my patience starts growing thin. And it continues...
Well, if Amazon wants to provide a more affordable way for people to get their hands (and eyes) on books, guess what they need to do? Nothing. Because people can already buy used books on Amazon for a few bucks – sometimes less than that.Certainly. By the same token, they can get Project Gutenber's files (link above). You do know, however, that they keep extending copyrights and pushing against libraries and second hand shops, do you not?
the e-book market might be growingMight. Indeed. That's the kind of red flag that tells you a lot about someone. It's almost silly, a small nugget of information. But. That "30%" quote is probably off (it happens, when Big 5 only look at their book sales), and you could probably use the same argument apropos hardbacks. But it would feel ridiculous. "Hardbacks make roughly 30% of the market, but paperback has not gone the way of the dinosaur". When did extinction become part of the issue?
For my book [in 3 formats] e-books only make up about 7% of my salesIf you bothered to check the reason behind Amazon's insistence on 9.99 USD prices, you might understand why a book at 12.99 USD is not selling well. Supposing Hachette is not cooking the books. Again. Lady, if you like old school so much, do your 8k peaks without O2 and technical clothes. Tradition!
Will the print book go away at some point? I don't know. I hope not.So do I. That's not the issue, though. Again: hardcopy extinction is not the issue. And do please understand that there are layers of value for books. Personal ones. The book I treasure in trade is someone's already deleted ebook. Or I might have both: a collector's, signed, and the ebook. And so on. Again, not the issue.
As a first time author, this feud has opened my eyes to just how cutthroat the book distribution business has become. My book came out earlier this year and made the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Amazon even labeled it a "best book of the month" and called it out as a "remarkable read" and listed it at the top of the page along with books by other "influential people" [...] But alas, the love is gone. Because while my book might be a remarkable read... I am a Hachette author.To the bone, yes, I see. Makes me think of those people who don't believe in awareness and get into "reality based self defense" after their first scare, never trying to understand what really happened. United States of America v. Apple Inc., et al., 12 Civ. 2862 (DLC) was filed in April 2012. It had been grumbling for a while. And yet, you signed. Soon after that, I'd say. The US doesn't go into antitrust cases all that often. Are you one of those who think it was bogus? A simple spat? NYT and WSJ Lists? Do read some of the critiques on those. I think Kris' site has several. Also, the book distribution business is not cutthroat, by your post's standards. Hachette doesn't distribute. And what you claim amazon's doing to you is... not giving you preferential treatment as a "NYT bestselling author" any longer. Deal with it, most writers do. Stop whining. Write your next book. And don't choose convicted criminals for business partners at first acquaintance [#].
As Sylvester Stallone said in First Blood Part II, "To survive a war, you gotta become war." Well, this is war.Yes. Against readers. Because you want your NYT treatment. I want to read. No DRM, no hassles, no over-the-top prices. But, of course, you're a sworn trooper. I'm a partisan. Take care. [*] Photo nbr. 2? "Building leaders"? That body language is insecure. Bad idea. Data point, though. [+] And he even has the gall to utter
Honestly we are hoping Jeff Bezos will come to his senses and settle this problem with Hachette without hurting authors. Let these two corporations juke it out … just don't hurt us. If he does we can all go to writing books but if Jeff wants to take the long hard road with us, we will walk that road with him.Bezos did offer to "not hurt you". Hachette refused. And you concured. I'm getting tired of Mr. Preston, so I'm linking to (one of) his opponent. Also, was that a threat or an offer for company in the "long hard road"? [#] I'm not against having former bad guys as associates, even friends. But do take some steps to check they are, indeed, FORMER. (Love you, guys).
Perhaps there will never be an “industry answer” to maximizing the marketing clout of our core “unit of appreciation”: the author. But we know that every author who has more than one published piece (book or article) on the Web under their name and who has the intention of publishing more should have the following built into a web presence they control and manage: * a list of all their books making clear the chronological order of publication (organized by series, if applicable) * a landing page for each book with cover, description, publisher information (including link to publisher book page), reviews, excerpts, and easy to find retail links for different formats, channels, and territories * a clear and easy way for readers and fans to send an email and get a response * a clear and easy way for readers and fans to sign up for email notifications * a clear and easy way for readers and fans to connect and share via social media * a calendar that shows any public appearances * links to articles about or references to the authorNow, how someone who hasn't discovered the "unordered list" html tag can think himself able to counsel others on e-commerce is something that only looks sane from the intelligentsia redoubts. That said, yes, a writer's site should have all that. There are systems out there that allow you to do it pretty easily (wordpress, the newer templates from blogspot...). That's about a given. It's also curious that he both recognizes and dismisses the brand recognition of a writer's name. On one hand, that's what marketing departments want to work with. On the other... the writer should submit to the publisher. He doesn't advocate for a channel between marketing and the writer. He insists that the writer should do A··Z to suit the publisher's need for brand recognition. Meanwhile, publishers keep ignoring brand development. No? Tell me, when was the last time you saw a proper "author's page" in a publisher's site. One that included that writer's work outside the publisher? No, sorry. If you want the benefits of the writer's brand, you have to nurture the whole of that, even that which benefits others. You may put your product first, but you have to acknowledge the rest. Otherwise, your site is misleading, and becomes irrelevant (and black-marked) when a reader notices it... which he will. But, of course, it's much better to offload the work unto the writer:
They must have an active and up-to-date Amazon author page and Google Plus page; that’s critical for SEO. Twitter and Facebook promotional activity might be optional, none of the rest of this is if an author is serious about pursuing a commercially successful career.My thoughts on that can be understood from here. Also, that's not SEO. Apparently, he knows "that internet thingie" about as well as publishing. I mean, I haven't posted the part where he admits to a 60,000 USD writer's website. Even if they didn't take that budget, the fact that it was even on the table is revealing.
And every publisher and agent should be urging authors to see these minimum requirements as absolutely necessary, offering advice, help, and financial support whenever possible. Authors should be wary of publishers who want to “own” the author’s web presence but they should expect publishers to be wary of any author who doesn’t nurture their own."No taxation without representation". Does that ring a bell? When publishers start giving writers enough say on their projects, then we can talk. Right now, they're getting about 80% of distribution net. No, you can't really consider their expenses, not when they insist on top Manhattan space and 5-figure websites. What's the current advance for a midlist writer, again?
My marketing whiz partner Pete McCarthy’s recommendation is that the authors own their websites but that the publisher run a parent Google Analytics account across author sites. That would enable them to monitor across authors, use tools like Moz to improve search (that would be beyond most authors’ abilities to manage and understand), and provide real support to authors optimizing their own web presence. This kind of collaboration is particularly appealing because it is reversible; the author can at any point install their own Google Analytics and remove the site from the publisher’s visibility. What this takes is for a publisher to set up the “parent” Google Analytics account and make a clear offer to authors of the support they can provide. As far as we know, only Penguin Random House — using an analytics tool called Omniture subsequently acquired by Adobe — offers this capability. Pete set it up a few years ago when he was there. As far we know, nobody else has done so. This solution allows authors to own their own sites and email lists — ownership of email lists is a massively underdiscussed point between authors and publishers — but for publishers to have a sense of what’s going on. That means they can make recommendations about marketing, employing what is usually (and should just about always be) their superior marketing knowledge on behalf of the shared objective of selling more books.Your whiz of a partner and yourself, sir, are scamming writers. One, suppose that you have several publishers. Do you really have to give code access to your site to all of them? And, frankly, getting their widget and installing it yourself could be worse, if they approach coding standards the way they approach everything else. But the thing is that he's advocating that writers give for free something that has a price (try buying data; better yet, try buying that kind of data to, say, amazon), a certain maintenance cost (small, but there), that gives data on their competition (heh... or do you suppose they should filter that before giving the data to the publisher?) and that they never shared themselves when that data was on paper and mainframes. That, by issuing cryptic semestral royalty reports, are still refusing to share. Also, that article of his was over 1500 words. Good enough for a short story. Several printed pages long. You should ask, where's his return of investment? That's a professional page. Take care.