Self-Promotion Or, Warning: Being A Published Author Means You Are Entering A Whine-Free Zone.

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This post, by Colleen Lindsay, originally appeared on The Swivet on 2/4/09.

A recent comment on a writing blog caused me to start mumbling under my breath and making impolite mutterings to my cats and furniture. (This is what one does when one is housebound and sick for a long time.) I’m paraphrasing the commenter here, who said something to the effect that s/he missed the good old days of publishing, when writers only had to write the books and publishers marketed them all, but alas, writers no longer live in that world and now we are (wailing and gnashing of teeth!) forced to (horrors!) self-promote!!!

I have news for you: We have never lived in that fantasy world.

Not ever.

Most authors have been responsible for the bulk of their own self-promotion all the way back to Dickens’ time. (And Dickens was a master of self-promotion, by the way.) Because publishing brings in such a narrow margin of profit, publishers have always relegated the bulk of their promotional resources to those books that they see as their best opportunity for a return on their investment. And the more money they have invested in the manuscript, the more they’re going to want to promote that manuscript. It’s pretty simple math.

But authors have always been expected to do their own self-promotion and outreach. It’s in every author questionnaire ever sent to an author by a publisher. It’s in every conversation an agent has with a potential new client (and if it isn’t, it should be): What will you be doing to aid in the promotional efforts for your own work?

It just seems that today I’m hearing writers complain about it a lot more.

Well, stop whining and suck it up. Every job comes with unpleasant tasks, even being a published writer.

Read the rest of the post on The Swivet.

What Will Become of the Book?

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This guest post, by Charles Rosenberg, originally appeared on Two Ends of the Pen on 5/4/12.

In April, I attended both the IBPA "Publishing University" in San Francisco and the 2012 Left Coast Crime mystery fan conference in Sacramento. In both places, I heard many people ask, in one way or another, "What will become of the book?" They were talking about the book as print on paper.

That question contains within it both an assumption and a lament. The assumption is that we have, up until now, all shared a common understanding of what is meant by the word "book." The implied lament in the question is the emotional equivalent of asking: What will become of Grandma now that we’ve left her by the side of the road and driven away?"

In this blog post, I want to explore both the rapidly changing meaning of "book" and the feeling of lament about those changes.

What Is a "Book," Exactly?

In the long-ago year of 2006, before the first Kindle was released, we had, I think, a culture-wide understanding of what the English word "book" meant when applied to a physical object. It meant text or pictures on sheets of paper, the sheets bound together at one end, called the spine (usually stitched or glued, but sometimes bound in other ways), with a protective cover made of thicker paper, cardboard or some other material stronger than the sheets of paper within. There were indeed many subcategories of books — hardback books, paperback books, art books, comic books, graphical books, notebooks, workbooks, etc., etc. — but, one way or another, all *books. So if you said to someone in 2005, "I just read a great book," most people wouldn’t have bothered to ask what physical form the book took.

That was then.

Now, with the advent of the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad, the iPhone, and numerous other smart phones and tablets, the term "e-book" has arisen, which has begun to upend our more than one thousand year-old understanding of what the word "book" means in physical terms. Think about it: e-books are not made of paper and do not contain pages that are physically bound together with stitches or glue. If they have a cover, its function is not to use thicker/better/stronger digits to protect the text on the inside. Its function is more-or-less to announce the book. Kind of like a butler. Indeed, an e-book is not a physical object at all, although it is contained within one. Yet I don’t think many people would think of a Kindle or an iPad as a book.

As a result, the meaning of the word book has begun to change, to mean text and/or images of a certain length and format rather than a physical object. You can figure this out just by listening to people talk. You will not usually hear someone say: "I just read a great e-book." For an increasing number of people, whether a text was read in digital form or on paper has become a matter of indifference, and yet they still refer to having read a "book." Of course, someone listening to the statement may enquire if the book is available as an e-book. But the question may be generated as much by their "platform" reading preference or on their assumption that the e-book will be less expensive as by any desire to know how the reader accessed the book.

Is This Really Anything New?

From what I’ve read, change is nothing new for books.

Starting around 400 A.D., the bound book became dominant, at least in the West, over the scroll, which has receded into mainly ceremonial use (e.g., the Torah). The bound book had large advantages over the scroll: It was less expensive (you could write on both sides of the page), it was more easily stored and transported (try stacking scrolls), it had what we would today call "random access" (you could reach any page without unrolling), and it was harder to damage (covers really do protect). It was also easier to hide. This was apparently important to early Christian groups, who favored the book over the scroll.

 

Read the rest of the post on Two Ends of the Pen.

Is the Free Ride Really Over?

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This post, by Andrew E. Kaufman, originally appeared on the Crime Fiction Collective site and is reprinted here in its entirety with that site’s permission.

I’m hearing a lot of talk lately among authors that the Amazon Select program is losing steam and no longer spurring the kinds of sales it once did. Many are reporting diminished numbers and poor results after their free giveaways. Rumors are spreading from blog to blog that on May 1st, Amazon abruptly changed its algorithms (The “customers also bought” section) so that free books are now given only ten percent weight in the rankings, in effect making ten free downloads really only equal to one sale. Also, borrowed books supposedly no longer count as sales where rankings are concerned.

 
I don’t know if all this is true, but a lot of people seem  pretty upset. Authors are complaining that Amazon wants them to give away their books for free with no benefit to sales. They’re threatening to withdraw their work from KDP Select and upload them to Smashwords.  Others are trying to decide whether to stick it out with a wait-and-see attitude. 
 
Many have benefited greatly from the Select program. I am one of them. My sales are still going strong, and I haven’t seen the diminished numbers others are reporting. I feel fortunate for that, but my suspicion is that while the free promos may have given me a good bump at the outset, what’s happening now is something entirely different. I never stopped promoting once the giveaways ended, and I’ve never relied on the Select program to carry me forever. I’m not saying that others have; I’m simply recounting my own experience.
 
But in the back of my mind, I’ve always wondered just how long the Select Effect would last. When it began, it seemed like a mad free-for-all, literally, and suddenly the market was flooded with free books. It only seemed logical that eventually, consumers might feel overwhelmed by it all, that they would grow tired, and yes, that the value of e-books might become diluted. After all, there are so many books and so little time to read them all. There’s no telling how many free books are sitting on Kindles now—and even worse, how many of them will ever actually be read.
 

I’m not a gloom-and-doom person, and I suspect that even if my sales weren’t doing well, I wouldn’t be one of those complaining right now. I still choose to see the glass as half full. Many authors are forgetting that even if they give away a lot of books and don’t see an immediate boost in sales, those are seeds that have been planted, and they’re getting the benefit of gaining new readers they never had before. I’ve learned that in this business, too fast never lasts, and that slow and steady wins the race. It’s how I’ve built my audience over the years. Besides that, there’s still the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, and at least for me, it’s been like having extra books up for sale—money in my pocket I wouldn’t normally have.

The thing is, I don’t think the Select program was ever intended to carry authors forever; I think it was intended to give them exposure, help get their books into new readers’ hands, and ultimately, help them grow their readerships, and I still think it’s doing that. What happens after is really up to the authors. It’s not Amazon’s job to do all the work so our books can sell—it’s ours—and it’s not much to ask if we meet them half way.

The truth is, the free ride really isn’t over because in fact, one was never offered.

 

An Open Letter to the DOJ from Someone Who Actually Cares About Writers (and Readers)

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This post, by David Gaughran, originally appeared on his Let’s Get Digital Site on 5/15/12.

 The leading literary agents’ organization – the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR) – penned an open letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) opposing the terms of the settlement reached with three of the publishers named in the Agency price-fixing suit.

I won’t go into the details of how wrongheaded that letter was. It has already been systematically taken apart by Joe Konrath, Bob Mayer, and Dean Wesley Smith.

Also worth reading are Joe Konrath’s subsequent dismantling of another open letter to the DOJ written by Simon Lipskar (a board member of the AAR), as well as the comments made by Passive Guy on the same topic.

If you have any doubt whose side (most) agents and the AAR are on (clue: it’s not writers’), then you need to read this guest post by Ann Voss Peterson on her exploitative Harlequin contract, the subsequent reaction to Ann’s post by romance agent Scott Eagan (read the comments following that piece) and agent Steve Laube, as well as Joe Konrath’s filleting of the latter.

I have heard privately from one agent who is opposed to the AAR’s position, but I haven’t seen any public postings to that end. If they exist, please point me to them and I will amend the above characterization (but I fear I won’t have to).

* * *

Gail Hochman, the President of the AAR, sent a copy of that open letter mentioned at the top to all members of her organization, along with an accompanying note calling on her fellow agents to both write similar letters and encourage their clients (i.e. writers) to do likewise. Their explicit aim is to influence the judge presiding over the suit.

From Gail Hochman’s letter to AAR members:

The DOJ must read and report to the judge who must ultimately approve the settlement each communication it receives commenting on the proposed settlement. For that reason, in addition to the AAR’s letter we urge all AAR members to express their views on the settlement to the DOJ and we hope you will also urge your clients to do the same.

Your note might address whether you feel the settlement will foster competition and well-being in the literary marketplace, or the opposite. There is a time limit for such communications, so your messages should be sent as promptly as possible. (The address is on the AAR’s letter.)

We believe it is tremendously important that we all be heard on this most significant issue. We believe the more letters from publishing professionals that are received, the better the chance of affecting the judge’s final decision.

While I’m not a member of the AAR, I suppose I am a “publishing professional” in one sense. I will gladly answer Gail Hochman’s call. A copy of the letter I’m sending on Thursday morning is below. If anyone wants to add their name to it, please make a note in the comments (or email me privately at david dot gaughran at gmail dot com) and I will include your name.

It would be great if there were other writers’ names to add, but make no mistake, this isn’t a petition. If mine is the only name at the bottom, I’m sending it anyway.

Some authors may be reticent. I can understand that. Many of you may be seeking representation or a publishing deal and may be afraid of stepping on toes. That’s fine. I don’t really care about that stuff so I’m happy to take any potential flak.

 

Read the rest of the post, which contains Gaughran’s letter to the DoJ, on Let’s Get Digital.

TRUE HERO I never met Ghandi, but I met Ian

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 Just posted a new Blog Article

HERO I never met Ghandi, but I met Ian

tinyurl.com/cgalzer 

Have fun

Mikel

How Amanda Palmer Built An Army Of Supporters: Connecting Each And Every Day, Person By Person

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This post originally appeared on techdirt on 5/4/12.

Following the massive success of her Kickstarter experiment, we asked Amanda Palmer if she wanted to write a quick guest post about why she thought the offering was so successful. Here’s what came back, including a bonus bit from Sean Francis, who has helped Amanda for years on the tech/social side of things.

 

There’s a great story about how bamboo grows. A farmer plants a bamboo shoot underground, and waters and tends it for about three years. Nothing grows that’s visible, but the farmer trots out there, tending to this invisible thing with a certain amount of faith that things are going to work out. When the bamboo finally appears above ground, it can shoot up to thirty feet in a month. This is like my kickstarter campaign. The numbers aren’t shocking to me, not at all. I set the goal for the kickstarter at $100,000 hoping we’d make it quickly, and hoping we’d surpass it by a long-shot.

I’ve been tending this bamboo forest of fans for years and years, ever since leaving roadrunner records in 2009. Every person I talk to at a signing, every exchange I have online (sometimes dozens a day), every random music video or art gallery link sent to me by a fan that i curiously follow, every strange bed I’ve crashed on…all of that real human connecting has led to this moment, where I came back around, asking for direct help with a record. Asking EVERYBODY. Asking my poor fans to give a dollar, or if nothing else, to spread the link; asking my rich fans to loan me money at whatever level they can afford to miss it for a while.

And they help because they know I’m good for it. Because they KNOW me.

I’ve seen people complaining that this is easy for me to do because I got my start on a major label. It’s totally true that the label helped me and my band get known. But after that, the future was up to me. It bought me nothing but a headstart, and I used it. I could have stopped working hard and connecting in 2009. If I’d done that, and then popped up out of nowhere in 2012 to kickstart a solo record in 2012, my album would probably get funded to the tune of $10k…if I was lucky. There are huge ex-major label artists (pointless to name names) who have tried the crowd-funding method and failed dramatically, mostly because they didn’t have the online relationship with their fans to rely on. And vice versa: plenty of young upstarts with a small but devoted fanbase have kicked ass using crowdfunding, because they’ve taken a hands-on approach online and at shows, and have been close and connected with their fans ALL THIS TIME, while nobody was caring or watching.

 

Read the rest of the post on techdirt. 

When Publishing Goes Wrong…Starring Undead Press

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This post, by Mandy DeGeit, originally appeared on her blog on 5/14/12.

You all know I’ve been ranting about my first ever publication coming out for the last little while… “She makes me smile” was picked up by Undead Press (Anthony Giangregorio) to be published in their anthology called Cavalcade of Terror and the book was released May 1st 2012.

[Publetariat Editor’s note: strong language after the jump]

I waited… and waited… I was SO excited to see my story and name in print.

One of my friends even went as far as to pay 40$ to Expresspost me a copy of Cavalcade, I waited around two days for the delivery. (Apparently I’m dealing with a buzzer issue here at the house.)

It finally came in and believe me, I didn’t waste any time ripping into the package…

FLIP, FLIP, FLIP… Find the Table of Contents.
Scan down…

…and my heart sank.

Wtf? :( There’s a spelling mistake in the title of my story. *(Not from my submission however… They changed it to wrong.)

“She Make’s Me Smile” by Mandy J. De Geit

Well that made me sad, but okay the Mandy part is kinda cool. Let’s see the story itself…

ARGH!!! Same mistake on the title page. Fack, She Make is Me Smile… Really? Oh well… Read on.

… … …
..Wait… What?
Read read read… WTF? WHO THE HELL? (Run to computer and load up the submitted file with great difficulty, cause your breathing is laboured from a really tight chest, your hands are shaking to the point you can hardly type and you can hardly see the screen cause you’re about to lose your shit waterworks wise… and you NEVER do that…)

Fucking Bastards! They changed my story without telling me.

Let’s see: They turned a non-gendered character into a boy, they named the best friend, they created a memory for the main character about animal abuse. They added a suggestion of rape at the end… I feel like they ruined the suspense in the story. I don’t know what else, I haven’t even read the whole thing through yet because it makes me SOO FREAKING ANGRY!!! *(I’m angry now… just talking about it riles me up. EFFIN GRRRRRR! I could totally kill someone with a paperback, I wonder if that’s been done…) Grrr… I hate anger.

… anyways…
THEY SHOULD’VE ASKED!!!
(I’d have said NO, give me my story back, because you can’t spell and your story makes no sense, but that’s neither here nor there.)

The story didn’t pay anything, not even a contributor’s copy, but still I signed the contract (which said “EDIT” not “revamp”) and let them publish my story. I was rushing on the fact that I was actually going to be a published author.

 

Read the rest of the post on Mandy DeGeit’s blog.

How Do Daily Ebooks Sold Figure into Amazon and Barnes and Noble Sales Rankings? Theresa Ragan Has The Scoop!

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This post, by D.D. Scott and Theresa Ragan originally appeared on The Writer’s Guide to E-Publishing on 5/14/12.

Happy Monday, WG2E-Land!!!

Gosh, I sooo wish I’d come across this superfab scoop when I’d first started out in Indie Epublishing, but since I came across it this past week, I just had to share it with y’all!!!

A huge shout-out and thank you to Bestselling Amazon Author…and now Amazon Thomas and Mercer Author too

Theresa Ragan

for this beyond valuable info!!!

We featured Theresa in a fabulous Reader2Author Interview on yesterday’s RG2E, so check it out here:

http://bit.ly/JqxSxV

And while I was getting that post ready to go, I browsed Theresa’s website and found that she had some terrific Real Numbers on how Daily Ebook Sales figure into Amazon Sales Rankings.

Here’s what she has on her Sales Ranking Chart Page:

The numbers below are based on MY experiences… I’m sure you can find other authors whose numbers are different from these…but the following s/b pretty darn close. The whole idea is to give you an approximate number of books you would need to hit the OVERALL Kindle List only.

The rankings are interesting to look at if you have a book out there and you are hoping to, for example as of January 2012, get on the Top 100 Romantic Suspense Bestsellers List on Amazon. If I look at the Romantic Suspense Kindle Ebook List and click on the book title of #99 or #100 and that book has a Bestsellers Rank of 3,865 (#99) and 3,875 (#100), then I know I need a 3,875 or better to get on that list. As of 1/7/12 Finding Kate Huntley is #18 with an overall ranking of 446 and selling over 125 books a day. ABDUCTED is #40 with an overall ranking of 1,087 and selling over 80 books a day. And Dead Weight is #69 with an overall ranking of 2,182 and selling about 65 books a day.

Amazon Bestsellers Rank is the number you find beneath the Product Description. Every book on Amazon has an Amazon Bestsellers Rank. Click on any title and then scroll down until you see it.

January 2012 update: rankings have changed substantially in the past few months and I’ve made changes to reflect rankings and sales according to MY books.

 

Read the rest of the post on The Writer’s Guide to E-Publishing.

Plan a Book Launch Party for an Ebook

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Recently an author asked me "How do you stage an in-person book launch with a novel that’s published as an ebook? How do you autograph a computer screen?"

Here are some suggestions for doing a live book launch event for an ebook:

Plan the event much like you would any other book launch party, except you will probably need to find a venue other than a bookstore. Try to use a venue that has some kind of tie-in with the book, and offer refreshments and perhaps some form of entertainment. See this article by Tolly Moseley for creative ideas on planning a book launch party.

Do a presentation based on the book’s content, not just a signing where you sit at a table. Nonfiction authors can speak on their book’s topic or plan an interactive activity based on the topic. Novelists can do a presentation based on some aspect of the book’s story or do a short reading. Children’s authors can read the book aloud, speak on the topic of the book, and plan fun activities for kids. All authors can talk about writing and publishing and take questions from the audience. Be creative and plan something interesting!

Print lots of bookmarks and handout several to all of the attendees so they can share with others. If you print your bookmarks with uncoated paper on the back side, you can sign the back of the bookmarks. See this article to learn more about using bookmarks for book promotion.

Encourage attendees to bring their ebook reading device to the event. They can download the ebook on the spot.  You could even provide a laptop computer where people can order the book if they don’t have their ebook reader with them, but you’ll need to make certain that each person logs out of their Amazon or other ebookstore account after using it.

You can "autograph" Kindle ebooks by using KindleGraph to send personalized inscriptions and signatures to the customer’s Kindle ebook reader.

If your ebook is available on the Nook store, you may be able to arrange an event at a Barnes & Noble store. Last year B&N announced that they were going to offer autographing services for Nook Color devices, but it’s hard to find any details on how to do it. Your local store event manager may have information on autographing.

Remember that you’ll need to promote your event heavily. Suggested promotions include press releases to local media, emails or evites to your friends and local contacts, announcements on your blog and social media accounts, and postcard invitations. Ask others to help spread the word.

Do you have any suggestions on how to do a live launch for an ebook? Please share in the comments section [on the source article’s page].

 

This is a reprint from Savvy Book Marketer Dana Lynn Smith‘s blog.

How To Get Seen And Noticed

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With 500,000 new books being published every year, how can you compete? How do you get seen and noticed? How will independent booksellers fall in love with your book and promote it in their stores and on the recommended reading lists? Relax, I’m about to give away the deep, dark secrets of book marketing.

The American Booksellers Association (ABA)

The book industry trade group has been around for over 100 years. Based just north of New York City in Tarrytown, NY, this organization watches over the business health of over 1,200 independent bookstores throughout the United States. Notice I keep saying independent bookstore and not the giant corporate chains and Amazon. The ABA has many helpful programs and resources for both the booksellers and the publishers who sell to them. The following info will help you know what is available.

The link to the following information and costs is http://www.bookweb.org/pubpartner/resources.html:

The Red Box

This is a once-a-month shipment of marketing materials to bookstores. You can get the below particulars at

THE MONTHLY INDIEBOUND RED BOX MAILING PROGRAM

Designed to serve as a monthly “In-Store Marketing Action Kit”, the Red Box mailing (actually a white box with a large red sticker) contains the stores initial quantity of the latest Indie Next List flyers as well as other timely news and information from ABA and IndieBound.

For inclusion in the Red Box, ABA Publisher Partners are invited to provide marketing materials including but not limited to:

    * Shelftalkers, easelbacks, bookmarks, posters, or other point-of-purchase items to promote those titles chosen as
           Indie Next List Great Reads or Notables, or other recent or upcoming releases
    * Sell sheets and/or catalog copy for any “off-the-list” titles
    * Seasonal catalogs and/or order forms
    * Special offers, notice of backlist promotions, etc.
    * Any other news about titles, authors, tours, confirmed media appearances, etc.

The Red Box mailing is shipped within the first 12 days of the month to approximately 1100 IndieBound stores. The mailing is prioritized, based on the level of a store’s participation in IndieBound and ABA programs. The minimum quantity for inclusion in any mailing is 450 pieces.

Effective with the January, 2012 mailing, standard pricing for inclusion in all 1100 Red Boxes is as follows:

• A sell sheet or flyer
• A standard (4” x 6”) postcard • A large-format postcard
• Shelftalker
• Easelback poster
• Standard poster, flat or folded • Pack of 25 bookmarks

$275; $.27 per piece for quantities less than 1100
$145: $.15 per piece for quantities less than 1100
$180; $.18 per piece for quantities less than 1100
$145; $.15 per piece for quantities less than 1100

$525 and up, dependent on size; $.55 per piece for quantities less than 1100 $425 and up, dependent on size; $.45 per piece for quantities less than 1100 $695, other quantities custom quoted

No galleys, ARC’s or finished books are included in the Red Box mailing. Those items are exclusive to the monthly White Box mailing (please see Appendix B).

We are happy to custom quote on any item you may wish to include in this mailing. If you would like your materials to also be sent to other active ABA Publisher Partners as well as to the nine Regional Bookseller Association Executive Directors, please provide an additional 100 pieces (same pricing as above).

Please contact Carolyn Bennett (carolyn@bookweb.org) at least three weeks prior to the White Box materials due date of a given mailing (please see Appendix D for these dates) with information about the item(s) you wish to include.

All materials should be shipped to:

Transport Specialties International, Inc. (TSI) Attn: Keith Gosselin
9 Joanna Court
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-2108

Phone: 732.698.0988, x 110

Please mark all cartons and/or packing slips:“FOR INDIEBOUND “month” RED BOX” Early shipments are possible, but must be pre-approved.

The White Box Program

THE MONTHLY INDIEBOUND WHITE BOX MAILING PROGRAM

Every month a box measuring 18.5” x 18.5” x 4” is sent to each of the approximately 750 actively participating IndieBound stores, filled with galleys,ARCs and finished books provided by ABA Publisher Partners. As with the Advance Access Program (see Appendix G), this is an excellent and cost effective way to reach the Independent Bookstore market with news of your titles. By collating, packing and shipping all these materials from one warehouse, we are able to offer publishers substantial savings in time, labor, and postage over individual mailings done on their own.

The cost of inclusion in the White Box is dependent on the size and weight of the galley,ARC, or finished book. Standard pricing typically ranges from $1.35 to $2.50 per piece. Upon receipt of the dimensions and number of pages, we are happy to custom quote for any proposed inclusion.

    * The White Box mailing is prioritized, based on the level of a store’s participation in IndieBound and ABA programs. The minimum quantity for inclusion in any mailing is 450 copies.

    * To reach all stores receiving the White Box mailing, please plan to provide 750 copies.

    * If you would like your materials to also be sent to other active ABA Publisher Partners as well as to the nine Regional Bookseller Association Executive Directors, please provide an additional 100 copies.

There is an additional charge for the insertion of any bounceback cards, letters, or any other collation done in our warehouse. Charges for collation will be custom quoted.

Please contact Carolyn Bennett (carolyn@bookweb.org) at least three weeks prior to the White Box materials due date of a given mailing (please see Appendix E for these dates) with information about the item(s) you wish to include.

All materials should be shipped to:

Transport Specialties International, Inc. (TSI) Attn: Keith Gosselin
9 Joanna Court
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-2108

Phone: 732.698.0988, x 110

Please mark all cartons and/or packing slips:“FOR INDIEBOUND “month” WHITE BOX” Early shipments are possible, but must be pre-approved.

Children’s White Box

THE QUARTERLY INDIEBOUND CHILDREN’S WHITE BOX MAILING PROGRAM

Four times each year a box measuring 18.5” x 18.5” x 4” is sent to each of the approximately 750 actively participating IndieBound stores, filled with a variety of materials provided by ABA Publisher Partners specifically for Children’s book- sellers. As with the Advance Access Program (see Appendix G), this is an excellent and cost effective way to reach the Independent Bookstore market with news of your titles. By collating, packing and shipping all these materials from one warehouse, we are able to offer publishers substantial savings in time, labor, and postage over individual mailings done on their own.

Standard pricing for inclusion in all 750 boxes is as follows:

• A one-sheet or flyer
• A standard postcard
• A large format postcard • A shelftalker
• A pack of 25 bookmarks • A pre-folded poster
• An easelback poster

$190; $.27 per piece for quantities less than 750 $100; $.15 per piece for quantities less than 750 $125; $.18 per piece for quantities less than 750 $100; $.15 per piece for quantities less than 750 $475

$300 and up, dependent on size $400 and up, dependent on size

For galleys, ARC’s, F&G’s and finished books, costs for inclusion usually range between $1.35 and $2.50 per piece, depen- dent on size and weight. The minimum quantity for any galley,ARC, or finished book is 450 pieces. There is an additional charge for the insertion of any bounceback cards, letters, or any other collation done in our warehouse.

We are happy to custom quote on any item you may wish to include in this mailing. If you would like your materials to also be sent to other Publisher Partners and to the nine Regional Bookseller Association Executive Directors, please provide 850 pieces (same price as above).

Please contact Carolyn Bennett (carolyn@bookweb.org) at least three weeks prior to the Children’s White Box materials due date of a given mailing (please see Appendix F for these dates) with information about the item(s) you wish to include.

All materials should be shipped to:
Transport Specialties International (TSI)
Attn: Keith Gosselin
9 Joanna Court
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-2108 Phone: 732-698-0988, x 110

Please mark all cartons and/or packing slips:“INDIEBOUND “season” CHILDREN’SWHITE BOX” Early shipments are possible, but must be pre-approved.

IndIe Next List And Shelftalker Suggested Rate Card 2012

INDIE NEXT LIST:
Top 20 Listing, #1 Title $ 3,500
Top 20 Listing, Other Titles $ 2,500

This charge includes printing costs and postage for 450,000 fliers; store placement

“Now in Paperpack” (12 titles per month) $ 1,000

A pdf with jacket image, bibliographic information and bookseller quote as well as a shelftalker for each title is available for download at www.bookweb.org.

Top 10 Listing, Frontlist
Top 10 Listing, Backlist
Regular Listing, Frontlist
Regular Listing, Backlist

This charge includes printing costs and postage for 450,000 fliers; store placement

TEAR-OFF SHELFTALKERS:
Standard cost for regular Indie Next List titles, 1100 $2,875 Standard cost for Kids’ Indie Next List titles, 750 $2,175

Includes production and shipment, 5.5” x 7”, with four-color jacket image and bookseller quote, 50 tear-off sheets and printed backer.

Combined cost (to support an Indie Next List title) Kids’ combined Top Ten
Kids’ combined Regular

$4,500 $3,200 $2,700

Combined cost includes suggested rate for Indie next List placement and standard shelftalker production (see individual costs above).

Please contact Mark Nichols at mark@bookweb.org for further information Rates subject to change without notice.
 

Advance Access Program

This is an email alert to member stores where you can offer up free review copies of your book to those stores that request one. The ABA is currently re-doing its rate structure for this, so check back in from time to time to see when it becomes available again.

Snail Mail Lists

These are available for a price; however, I don’t think sending materials direct to the stores is nearly as effective as communicating through the ABA programs, which give them a much more valid image.

Summary

There you have it: the secret to success in book marketing. Yes, it is expensive! Yes, it’s well worth it. Book marketing is a full time job and an expensive undertaking. If you’re not prepared to do this, you might want to rethink the idea of self-publishing. It’s not for everyone.

 

This is a cross-posting from Bob Spear‘s Book Trends blog.

Amazon's Ever-Changing Algorithms: Oops, They Did It Again

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This post, by Edward W. Robinson, originally appeared on his Failure Ahoy! Adventures In Digital Publishing site on 5/4/12.

So not 12 hours after my post about how Amazon’s algorithms work, Amazon changed their algorithms again. This is a big enough deal they apparently just caused me to quote Britney Spears.

Fortunately, the latest changes weren’t a complete revolution. By all accounts, there is once again a single list seen by all customers. I’m not sure exactly how this new list works–the Avengers are still working on it–but it seems to hew very closely to one of the lists we already understood. And if you are a Select author who leans on free giveaways for sales, here is my current advice to you:

Sorry, couldn’t resist. I actually don’t think we should flee the battlements just yet, for reasons I’ll get into lower down, but this is bad news for Select authors. Phoenix Sullivan has alluded to this, and will surely have more to say herself, so keep watching. Anyway, cause for panic: the new list looks an awful lot like List B. As a refresher, here are the main mechanics (that I am aware of) for how List B works:
 

  • Ranks are determined by the last 30 days of sales, with no extra weight given to the most recent sales

  • Free book downloads are discounted heavily–maybe as little as 10% the value of paid sales

  • Borrows don’t count as sales

I’m not sure about whether borrows count or not on this new list. Won’t have the data on that front for a while. I am positive free books are counted, and that they’re counted at a discounted rate–feels like 10-15% of a sale. (In other words, for every 10 freebies given away, you’re credited with 1 sale for the purposes of pop list rank.) You can see this for yourself by trolling the popularity lists. You’ll see a few titles that are permanently free scattered across the first few pages. If freebies didn’t count, you wouldn’t be seeing them on the lists at all, and if they did count, you’d see a lot more permafree titles and Select titles higher up on the lists.

 

Read the rest of the post on Failure Ahoy, and also see this follow-up post on the same site.

AAR (Association of Authors Representatives) Fail

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This post, by JA Konrath, originally appeared on his A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing on 5/10/12.

I just read the letter the Association of Authors Representatives sent to the DOJ yesterday. 

Then I threw up in my mouth. Ack. 

The letter in plain text, my comments in bold. 

My comments will not be kind. 


May 8, 2012
John R. Read

Chief, Litigation III Section United States Department of Justice 450 5th St NW Suite 4000 Washington DC 20530

Dear Mr. Read,
I write to you as the President of the AAR, the largest organization of literary and dramatic agents in the United States, and on behalf of the unanimous AAR Board of Directors. Our more than four hundred seventy-five members represent writers who number in the tens of thousands. We want you to know in the strongest terms possible that we firmly oppose the proposed settlement between the Justice Department and three publishers with respect to e-book pricing.

Translation: We’re about to put our collective foot in our mouth. Stay tuned!

Joe sez: I count thirteen names on this letter. I don’t see the names of the other 462 AAR members, nor the names of the tens of thousands of authors they seem to be insinuating they speak for.

They DO NOT speak for me. And I hope the majority of the AAR who didn’t sign their name to this nonsense show some guts and leave an organization that erroneously claims to speak for them. Or at least fire the board members that sent this without getting a majority vote.

Readers, writers and the general public benefit when there is a healthy competitive literary marketplace. Two and a half years ago Amazon, with its proprietary Kindle devices and its willingness to discount e-book “bestsellers” to a level at which it sustained a significant loss on each copy sold, threatened the entire marketplace for books. 

Translation: Amazon invented a device that consumers wanted. That’s BAD. Readers were getting cheap ebooks. That’s BAD. It may not seem bad on the surface, and we don’t back-up our claim with any actual evidence, but boy oh boy trust us it really is because we say so.

Amazon’s practice of targeting the very titles that drive profitability of our entire industry and pricing them several dollars below cost was clearly leading to the demise of the independent bookstore, hastened the loss of Borders, and threatened the existence of Barnes & Noble, the one remaining large chain store that sells books. 

Translation: Customers were changing how and where they shopped because Amazon gave them a clearly better alternative; ebooks delivered instantly for less.

Joe sez: Apparently the AAR doesn’t remember that under the previous model, their authors were making more damn money.

Doesn’t AAR stand for Association of AUTHORS Representatives? Why are they suddenly spokesmen for Barnes and Noble?

And Borders? Weren’t they on the verge of bankruptcy (or at least in serious trouble) before Amazon even introduced the Kindle? Blaming Amazon for Borders’ woes is bullshit correlation. Or as a friend of mine calls it: causality magical thinking.

This was not healthy for competition or for authors or indeed for consumers in the long-term. 

Translation: Trying to outsell your competition, or attract customers with lower prices and better service, is bad.

And it’s bad when authors get paid more for each copy sold and sell more copies because of lower prices. 

And lower prices are bad for consumers, because maybe one day Amazon will again raise prices, possibly even up to the lofty heights publishers have them raised to now under the current Agency Model.

Retailers shouldn’t be allowed to set their own prices. That’s bad. It’s much better for the wholesaler to set both the wholesale and the retail price, because THAT and THAT ALONE encourages healthy competition. ESPECIALLY when there are several wholesalers in lockstep. 

Nothing is better for consumers than a group of companies who set wholesale and retail. And even though they set the SAME prices, it really still is competition! Really!

The steep discounting from Amazon was a practice of selling our clients’ work at a loss in order to make it impossible for other businesses to enter the e-book marketplace in a way that made financial sense for them.    

Translation: This predatory pricing is driving competitors out of business, like it did with… um… what’s that famous case where a company lowered prices, destroyed competition, and then became a monopoly and raised prices?

It must happen all the time, right?

Or if it doesn’t, it’s because the government steps in and stops it. Like in the case of… um…

Joe sez: Like in the case of the DOJ stepping in because 5 of the Big 6 were colluding to raise ebook prices?

 

Read the rest of the post on A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.

Craft: Good Editing Help Is Findable

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This post, by Jane Friedman, originally appeared on her Writing On The Ether site.

Be sure the editor (or editors, if it’s an editing service) is qualified. You’re looking for professional publishing industry experience–preferably, as an editor for reputable publishers–and/or professional writing credentials (legitimately-published books, articles, etc.). If the editor has a website, a resume or CV should be posted there.

We do a lot of yelling and screaming these days about how authors simply must get  outside, professional editing services. To my mind, this is true whether you’re trying to self-publish or sling-shotting your MS on a flash drive at the rococo facade of a legacy publisher.

But how to find reputable editing?  That’s Victoria Strauss’ focus in Vetting an Independent Editor.

I’m a little concerned only about her first comment about considering free alternatives such as:

…a friend who’s not afraid to criticize, a local writers’ group or critique circle, an online writers’ group (such as Critters Writers Workshop for SF/fantasy/horror writers), a peer critique community (such as Book Country or Authonomy), or a creative writing course.

In a hardship case, do what you have to do, of course. And if you’re in earlier stages with a book, you do want less expensive avenues of feedback, sure. But I’d say — and again, this is me, with no desire to put words into Strauss’ blog post — there’s a point at which a true run at the market goes far past the friends-and-family stage. And a professional developmental edit isn’t the same as exchanging input in a mutual-critique community.

I find some backing on this point in a post — Where will self-publishing get quality control? — from author Roz Morris, diligent in working on why so much self-published content is sub-par.

It’s raining slush and nonsense. Readers who’ve bought unreadable books are muttering ‘vanity press’ all over again.

Morris is asked by a reader, “If people won’t use editors, can we realistically replace them with critique groups and beta readers?”

Morris’ answer is typically straightforward and refreshingly honest:

 

Read the rest of the post on Writing On The Ether.

Why E-Books Will Soon Be Obsolete (And No, It’s Not Just Because Of DRM)

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This post, by Jani Patokallio,originally appeared on Gyrovague on 4/30/12.

E-books will be obsolete within five years.  Crippled by territorial license restrictions, digital rights management, and single-purpose devices and file formats that are simultaneously immature and already obsolescent, they are at a hopeless competitive disadvantage compared to full-fledged websites and even the humble PDF.

 

Last year, I bought a laptop in Singapore, and brought it with me to Australia.  It worked fine for reading the Economist online and what passes for journalism in Singapore, but one day I searched for the Sydney Morning Herald, and there were no hits: it’s as if it didn’t exist.  A little poking around revealed that to be able to view Australian sites, I had to register my browser to be in Australia, which also requires a credit card with a billing address there.  What’s more, switching countries like this would delete all my bookmarks, terminate my paid subscription to the Economist and stop me from being able to read even single issue of the Singaporean Straits Jacket.  And needless to say, the laptop is locked to prevent me from installing another browser that would allow me to get around these limits.

Does this sound ridiculous, a perverse fantasy of some balkanized Web of the dystopian future?  Nope: it’s all true, except that my “laptop” is actually an iPad and my “browser” is iTunes/iBooks.  Since my iTunes account has a Singaporean billing address, the Kindle application does not show up in my search results.  If I switch countries, I will lose access to everything I’ve previously downloaded.  And if I do bite the bullet and switch to Australia, a good chunk of apps, music and more on offer will no longer be available on iTunes, iBooks or Amazon, and I’ll pay around 50% extra on what remains.  But I chose not to, and thus didn’t buy 3 or 4 books I wanted to, because their publishers would not sell them to me.

Why?  Because publishers insist on selling e-books the way they sell printed books, and customers simply don’t figure in the equation.

Now, breathtaking stupidity like this is commonly attributed to digital rights management (DRM), and Lord knows there’s plenty of idiocy involved in there as well.  Fortunately, Charlie Stross has already eviscerated that particular sacred cow of the publishing industry (see here and here), so I’ll focus on what’s actually causing my problem: publishing rights.

On the Web, the very idea that the right to read a website would vary from country to country seems patently absurd.  Cyberspace is flat, after all, just computers talking to computers.  You, the reader, do not need to concern yourself with where these electrons on your screen are coming from, and neither do I, their publisher, need to care where they are going.  And when somebody attempts to artificially block those electrons — say, China and its Great Firewall — it’s the kind of the thing that the US Congress and the World Trade Organization get worked up about.

 

Read the rest of the post on Gyrovague.

E-book Nation: An Infographic About Ebooks And The People Who Read Them

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The following infographic, from Online Universities, is reprinted here with that site’s permission.

[infographic after the jump]

 

 

E-book Nation
Brought to you by: OnlineUniversities.com