Book Trends

Articles about trends in bookselling and the publishing industry.

East African Writers Embrace Self-publishing and Promotion

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This post by Aleya Kassam originally appeared on Publishing Perspectives on 9/8/14.

Author Aleya Kassam explains how Kenyan writers are embracing the idea of branding and taking control of their careers….as told to Tom Chalmers, Managing Director at IPR License

The Kenyan publishing arena is a complex one and, like many others worldwide, is one that is constantly changing, with the importance of the author as a brand and their own marketing efforts continuing to grow in prominence.

Kinyanjui Kombani, who published his latest book with Longhorn, embarked upon his own aggressive social media marketing campaign, organizing book readings to meet readers, pre-selling thousands of copies of his book even before it hit the bookshops. He went so far as to deliver these books all around Nairobi to the people who had ordered them. This aggressive pro-active approach certainly impacted his sales, and I imagine made him even more attractive to publishers.

Self-publishing is gathering momentum. More and more people are self-publishing, particularly in the genres of poetry and short fiction. Writers are frustrated with the general lack of promotion by traditional publishers, so are taking it upon themselves to take advantage of their own networks, and the power of social media in self-promotion. This also means they are not restricted by publisher agendas, who have specific publishing focuses.

 

Click here to read the full post on Publishing Perspectives.

 

Grown-Up Things: On Adults and YA Fiction

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This post by Lyn Miller-Lachman originally appeared on her blog on 6/17/14.

Last week the child_lit online discussion group, of which I’m an active member, was consumed with responses to Heather Graham’s Slate article, “Against YA: Adults Should Feel Embarrassed to Read Children’s Books.” Timed to coincide with the release of the movie adaptation of John Green’s bestselling The Fault in Our Stars (apparently one of the shameless adults’ favorite YA novels) Graham’s article characterized even so-called “literary” realistic fiction as “uncritical,” “wrapped up neatly,” and generally simplistic. In her view, “even the myriad defenders of YA fiction admit that the enjoyment of reading this stuff has to do with escapism, instant gratification, and nostalgia.”

In addition to the child_lit participants, most of whom are teachers, librarians, and authors and editors of books for children and teens, many bloggers have weighed in with posts mostly critical of Graham. And my first reaction, as someone who works with and writes for teens, is that no one should be made to feel ashamed of what they read — not adults who read YA fiction, nor kids who read comics, nor readers of any age who prefer any kind of genre fiction. Shaming people for their reading choices is a reliable way of guaranteeing that they will not read, period.

 

Click here to read the full post on Lyn Miller-Lachman’s blog.

 

In Defense of Amazon

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This post by Neal Pollack originally appeared on Slate on 9/2/14.

I’m a writer, and my experience with this supposedly evil corporate behemoth has been fantastic.

Last August, Amazon flew about 80 writers on its Thomas & Mercer mystery and thriller imprint—including me—to Seattle for a conference. They put us up at the Westin downtown, a nice hotel by any standard, and spent the weekend feeding us well and serving us top-shelf booze at an increasingly fabulous series of parties. There were tourist outings, the usual conference mix of panels and workshops, and a non-stressful visit to the Amazon Death Star. Also, they gave us a free Kindle Paperwhite, a nice touch.

With a few exceptions, none of the writers at the conference were particularly famous; some had only published one or two books, all with Amazon. The Seattle trip wasn’t normal treatment for them, or for anyone. I’ve published books with independents and with big corporate imprints, and I’ve published books on my own. Each of these experiences was positive in its own way. But never before had I been treated quite like this. It felt like I’d entered a glorious new age. Amazon had given me a free sneak preview of what book culture would be like from now on.

As usual, I was naive.

 

Click here to read the full post on Slate.

 

Why Book Criticism and Literary Culture Needs a Poptimist Revolution

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This post by Elisabeth Donnelly originally appeared on Flavorwire on 8/28/14.

When bestselling author Jennifer Weiner was profiled by The New Yorker in January 2014 in an article called “Written Off,” writer Rebecca Mead made sure to outline Weiner’s two audiences: one, the loyal readers of her books, who propel them onto the best-seller list, and number two, a pricklier sort, consisting of the “writers, editors, and critics… who have given Weiner a parallel notoriety, as an unlikely feminist enforcer.” The short version is that, through Twitter (and her following, which currently numbers about 93K), Weiner used her platform to needle such august institutions as The New York Times Book Review and everyplace else with mediocre VIDA counts regarding the amounts of space they give to reviewing and considering the three books that “matter” for the season written by male authors like Jonathan Franzen and Jeffrey Eugenides, while simultaneously ignoring the span of women’s writing, and, additionally, commercial fiction.

Like any provocateur’s performance, it was equal parts annoying — if you see book reviewing as advocacy for the little guy, a review of a Weiner novel is certainly not part of that performance — and righteous truth. It’s sexist that book critics can ignore Weiner while making sure to cover the next book by a Stephen King (who bridges “commercial” and also gets literary cred all the time).

 

Click here to read the full post on Flavorwire.

 

More Verbal Abuse Among Young “50 Shades” Readers

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This post by Andy Henion – Michigan State originally appeared on Futurity on 8/22/14.

Young women who read Fifty Shades of Grey are more likely than others to show signs of eating disorders and have a verbally abusive partner, a new study suggests.

Further, those who read all three books in the Fifty Shades erotic romance series are at increased risk of engaging in binge drinking and having multiple sex partners.

All are known risks associated with being in an abusive relationship, much like the lead character, Anastasia, is in Fifty Shades, says Amy Bonomi, the study’s lead investigator. And while the study did not distinguish whether women experienced the health behaviors before or after reading the books, it’s a potential problem either way, she says.

“If women experienced adverse health behaviors such as disordered eating first, reading Fifty Shades might reaffirm those experiences and potentially aggravate related trauma,” says Bonomi, chairperson and professor in Michigan State University’s department of human development and family studies.

“Likewise, if they read Fifty Shades before experiencing the health behaviors seen in our study, it’s possible the books influenced the onset of these behaviors.”

 

Depictions of violence

 

Click here to read the full post, which includes a link to the source study, on Futurity.

 

Surviving in the Amazon Jungle – How Authors and Reviewers Can Co-exist in a Hostile Environment (and run to court if they don’t)

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This post by Pete Morin originally appeared on his site on 3/20/14.

Well, the Rice Petition has lost a lot of its steam as author after author continues to sign it with no apparent understanding of exactly what it proposes (based upon their own comments), but in the meantime, there has been a lot of discussion, and agreement, that Amazon’s review guidelines could use a few tweaks and a lot more enforcement.

There has also been a fair amount of criticism that demanding the true identities of ten million customers of Amazon products was too high a price to pay for a few dozen militant female reviewers to be “taught a lesson” by Queen Anne.

In that light, I began to consider the kind of actions the author and reviewer could take to both clarify their expectations in the book review arena and provide meaningful remedies against wrongdoers. There is no reason to send the cockroaches into the woodpile when a few well-coined provisos and wherefores can bring about harmony and understanding.

As a (dreaded) litigation attorney, I am forced to parse the language of contractual covenants, indemnifications, waivers, warranties, representations, certifications, promises and disclaimers. While the reading is excruciating, I take comfort in the fact that, pedantic and dull as they are, these kinds of clauses are usually enforceable according to their terms, no matter what they say. As long as both parties agree to the language and it is otherwise unambiguous and capable of only one meaning, it will be enforced in the event of a breach and consequent suit.

 

Click here to read the full post on Pete Morin’s site.

 

More Thoughts on Wattpad

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This post by Elizabeth Spann Craig originally appeared on her blog on 8/15/14.

I blogged in May that I was giving the publishing platform Wattpad a go.  I was somewhat worried about this decision at the time, wondering if my octogenarian protagonist and I would fit in among the youthful readers on the site.

From May to August, I went from several reads to steadily increasing reads.  Nothing I’d call spectacular.  But each day or couple of days I’d get a notification that I had someone else following (I think of them more as subscribers of) my story.  The number of reads (not readers, reads of each chapter) grew and with them grew more visibility.  That’s how it works at Wattpad.

Now, suddenly, I have over 18,000 reads.  I’ve done absolutely nothing to get these.  I’ve not been actively networking, not been joining groups.  I’ve been pretty darn introverted on the site except for my pleasant exchanges with readers who have commented on each chapter.

 

Click here to read the full post on Elizabeth Spann Craig’s blog.

 

Konrath's Advice to Publishers

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This post by J.A. Konrath originally appeared on his A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing blog on 8/17/14.

Over four years ago I wrote a blog post about ebooks:

Joe sez in May 2010: I’d always assumed that print publishers would begin to lose market dominance once ebooks took off in a big way, and they’d have to either restructure or die.

But now I’m predicting another death for them.

What is going to happen when authors stop sending their books to publishers?

If I know I can make $100,000 on a self-published ebook in five years of sales, and I have the numbers to back up this claim, why would any informed writer–either pro or newbie–ever settle for less?

The dominance of ebooks is coming. I have no doubt. But I always thought it was the readers who would lead the charge, based on cost and convenience.

Now I’m starting to believe that the ones with the real power are the ones who should have had the power since the beginning of publishing. The ones who create the content in the first place.

The authors.

It’s a wonderful, dynamic, empowering time to be an author. For the first time, we can command our own ships.

We’re the ones who write the books. We can reach readers without any gatekeepers at all. And we can make money doing it.

The print publishing industry’s biggest fear shouldn’t be the eventual dominance of ebooks over print.

 

Click here to read the full post on A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.

 

Announcing Pre-order for KDP

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An email Amazon sent to KDP authors today:

We’re excited to announce that you can now make your new books available for pre-order in Kindle Stores worldwide. With a few quick and easy steps you can create a pre-order page up to 90 days in advance of your book’s release date–your pre-order product page will be created within 24 hours. When you make your book available for pre-order, customers can order the book anytime leading up to the release date you set. We will deliver it to them on that date.

One advantage of using pre-order is that you can start promoting your Kindle book pre-order page on Author Central, Goodreads, your personal website, and other places ahead of its release to help build excitement for your book. Also, pre-orders will contribute toward sales rank and other Kindle Store merchandising ahead of release, which can help more readers discover your book.

Visit your KDP Bookshelf to set up your new book for pre-order.

Best regards,
The Kindle Direct Publishing Team

Questions? Learn more about pre-order on our Help page.

 

The New Bestseller Lists

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This post by L.J. Sellers originally appeared on The Kill Zone on 8/11/14.

Elements of the publishing industry have never been more hotly debated! The most passionate discussion is the Amazon/Hachette dispute over distribution terms and pricing, but another issue has come up that may have a broader effect on authors. Or at least, a more personal influence.

Amazon’s new Kindle Unlimited program was unveiled recently, and it’s already affecting the measure by which authors all live—the Kindle bestseller lists.  I’ll get to that in a moment, but first the background: Kindle Unlimited (KU) is a subscription service for ebooks. For $9.99 a month, readers can download all the digital books they want. So far, the books included in the service mostly come from the Select program of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and Amazon Publishing (AP) imprints.

[You can enroll in the KDP Select program by clicking on the box when you upload your book. When you click the Select box, you’re agreeing to make that ebook exclusive to Amazon and not sell it in ebook form anywhere else. In exchange, you get various promotional opportunities, plus you’re enrolled in KOLL (the lending library), so you get paid each time someone borrows your book. And now, with the new program, you’re also in Kindle Unlimited, for even more paid sales.]

 

Click here to read the full post on The Kill Zone.

 

The Ideas Have It

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This post by Philip Jones originally appeared on Futurebook on 8/12/14.

When The Bookseller launched the FutureBook Hack earlier this year, I wrote that the “book business has a remarkable record in publishing innovation, and a terrible reputation for digital inertia”. Part of the reason for this is that there are more ideas about this business, and what might be changed about how we go about the business, than there is capacity within it for the ideas to be given the oxygen they need. Just last month I noted a list of ten innovations I thought deserved greater attention, and last week Porter Anderson interviewed Headline’s Ben Willis, the person behind Bookbridgr.com, an idea which I cruelly left off my original list.

At the FutureBook Conference last year we asked a panel of industry experts for their big ideas. Each speaker got 5 minutes to pitch one way in which the industry could improve. The ideas looked at adapting to a shifting digital landscape, cultivating innovation and how to make the most of technological changes.

 

Click here to read the full post on Futurebook.

 

Reading Instead of Tweeting: Part II

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This post by Kelly originally appeared on the Little Pickle Press blog on 8/7/14.

I don’t just watch trends happen in education when it comes to reading: I live them daily. In my two decades as an educator in various capacities, I have seen my share of trends come and go when it comes to instruction of reading, but there are some constants and hard data that educators and parents use to make decisions about reading. The research is telling us a number of disturbing trends about how fewer parents are reading to their children and that in the previous 30 years we’ve seen reading decline further and further amongst children.

So, when I hear things like “Kids just aren’t reading these days!” I have to stop myself from arguing against it when the research and data tells us that it’s true. Developmentally, reading is a part of what makes our imaginations blossom and our worldview expand, but I also know that there are other things capturing the attention of children.

Naturally, much of this discussion comes with advances in technology and apps that are appealing to younger and younger children. Getting my own teens to continue reading long after I stopped reading to them was a battle but we got lucky in that they found what interested them early on and it they were varied genres. Of course, I didn’t have to compete with smartphones or easily accessible apps to get my own children to read. While they were growing up the media that vied for their attention was the television or video games and even that wasn’t seen as an “addiction” like many believe it to be today.

 

Click here to read the full post on the Little Pickle Press blog.

 

What Does Amazon/Hachette Have to Do With Me?

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This post by Barry Eisler originally appeared on his blog on 8/9/14.

In connection with the $100,000 ad some reactionary authors bought to run in tomorrow’s New York Times, Amazon has sent a letter to its self-published authors. It’s a good read, with some interesting historical context, for anyone who values low-priced ebooks and fair royalties for writers. And if you want to share your opinion on those topics with the CEO of “Big Five” publisher Hachette, you can email him — just scroll down the Amazon letter. Here’s what I said:

Hi Michael, even if the Big Five (why would anyone imagine something called the Big Five could be a cartel?) still had the power to control the market — and you don’t — the best you could do through agency and windowing and the like is delay the inevitable mass market transition to digital. Is that really who you want to be? A reactionary, focused on shoring up the next quarter rather than expanding your opportunities for the long term?

I don’t want big publishing to die — I want it to get well. But to get well, you’re going to have to change the lifestyle that’s led to your ongoing decrepitude.

Please, think about the future. Think about your place not just in the Big Five, but in the world. Stop impeding what’s best for readers, writers, and reading. Don’t fight progress. Be progress.

Sincerely yours,
Barry Eisler
www.barryeisler.com

I’ve seen some interesting reactions to the Amazon missive. I responded to some of them over at The Passive Voice, which consistently has some of the best industry coverage I’ve seen (both for Passive Guy’s presence and the insights of the people who comment there). I’ll address those reactions here, as well:

1. Amazon and/or Hachette are trying to get me to do their bidding, drag me into their war, dragoon me, etc.

 

Click here to read the full post on Barry Eisler’s blog.

 

Does "Novel" Now Mean Any Book?

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This post by Ben Yagoda originally appeared on Slate on 8/4/14.

I was taken aback recently to pick up an (unnamed) magazine for which I’d written an article and see my brief bio begin with the words: “Ben Yagoda is a novelist. … ” I am not a novelist, never have been, and have not (since the age of 15) even had any aspirations in that direction. When I looked into the possible reasons for the error, I came to understand that the person who wrote the bio wasn’t misinformed or making stuff up, but rather took “novelist” to mean the same as “author,” or, more specifically, “writer of books,” and maybe even more specifically than that, “writer of more or less meritorious books.”

A light bulb went off. I teach mostly writing and journalism workshops, but every once in a while, in class discussions or writing assignments, students will have reason to refer to particular nonfiction books—as I say, meritorious books, so not a guide to using your digital camera or naming your baby—and on numerous occasions they have referred to them as “novels.” I never gave this much thought till I had a conversation a few months ago with my colleague Kristen Poole, who teaches Renaissance literature. She told me that her students very frequently write things like “Shakespeare’s novel Hamlet.”

 

Click here to read the full post on Slate.

 

Michael Cader of Publishers Lunch In Conversation With J.A. Konrath

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This post by J.A. Konrath originally appeared on his A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing blog on 8/1/14.

Joe: Yesterday I fisked Mike Shatkin, who openly brags he doesn’t read my blog, and has removed my comments from his blog because he felt them too long.

I also fisked Michael Cader from Publishers Lunch.

Cader, however, showed he doesn’t fear debate, and had no problem sharing his opinion in a forum where many have a contrary point of view. He responded to my points in the comment section, and that took integrity and more than a little bit of guts.

Michael Cader: Hi, Joe. I’m glad we have at least some points of agreement. Some of your other replies are tangential rather than on point.

Joe: Thanks for responding, Michael. While it isn’t unprecedented for people I blog about to respond, it is certainly unusual, and shows both an open mind and a willingness to engage. You have my respect.

Cader: Amazon is very careful with their words, even if not elegant. The post begins, “A key objective is lower e-book prices.” A lot of traditional media have written the post up as if it said “The key objective…” What are the other key objectives, Amazon? Why do your conversations with people in the trade talk about looking for your fare share of the “business efficiencies” produced by a rising ebook market and your investments, while your public words are only about pricing objectives.

Joe: Well, we agree that Amazon is careful with their words. It’s unusual to hear an observation like that leveled as a criticism. Does Cader prefer the Hachette approach, which is to clear English what a chainsaw is to a tree…?

 

Click here to read the full post on A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.