On a limb with Claudia

You cannot imagine how many times I’ve heard “publishers support authors so authors can just write.” Or…

“It used to be that publishers supported authors so authors could just write.” Or..

“I can’t wait until I’m published so I can just stay at home and write.” Or…

“I wish was (fill in the blank with bestselling author). Their publisher does everything for them so they can just write.”

These statements are fantasy at best. Let’s take a look at each of these statements.

“Publishers support authors so authors can just write.” Writing contracts include publicity and promotions requirements for authors. Further, since 2003, most publishing houses have gutted their publicity budgets. Even bestselling authors are funding their own press and publicity agents. When I worked in the Open Grove, I met many authors who funded their own travel and hotel expenses. One woman, with a bestselling book under her belt, couch surfed around the country in support of her book.

“It used to be that publishers supported authors so authors could just write.” When I hear this statement, I usually ask “WHEN was that?” Pick an era, authors have always had to promote and sell their own books. Walt Whitman went door to door with his book. When people didn’t like Dicken’s work, he and his large family didn’t eat. Mark Twain hated traveling away from home, but left his family for a speaking tour to sell his books and make up for his debts. Even in the recent past, Jennifer Louden traveled the country in her parent’s vehicle teaching Free Adult Ed classes to support Women’s Book of Comfort. To my knowledge, there’s never been a time that author’s could ‘just write.’

“I can’t wait until I’m published so I can just stay at home and write.” This statement reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the word “advance.” An advance is basically a loan against your future earnings. For easy math, let’s say you receive $50 in an advance. Of that $50, your agent takes $7.50 leaving you with $42.50. You need to save 1/3 for taxes ($12.75) and at least 1/3 for publicity or a press agent ($12.75) This means that you live off of $12.75. But that’s okay, right? You’ll get more. Most authors never see another penny from their books. In fact, outside of about 50 books a year, most books lose money for publishers. What if your book becomes a best seller? Doesn’t help because you make the deal for your book up front. When you signed, you would have signed for anything – and usually authors sign for less than anything. When your first, second or third book becomes a best seller, the publisher wins for the risk of their investment, not you. What about when the story sells to the movie people? David Morrell sold Rambo for $50,000. Total. Period. That’s it. He was delighted for the $50,000. But once it’s sold, it’s sold. The entire billion dollar franchise was started from the $50,000 investment.

“I wish was (fill in the blank with bestselling author). Their publisher does everything for them so they can just write.” When I hear this statement, I always ask “Who are you talking about?” Janet Evanovich in How I write, speaks of working eighty hours a week. Moreover, after writing for eight hours, she spends the afternoon and evening working on marketing efforts. Nora Roberts, one of the most prolific authors of our time, writes all the time, including when she’s on press junket. You can find her in the middle of book tours working on her laptop in the smoking room of airports.  She writes in the car, at the hotel and any moment she’s not interacting with someone else. Even after 159 published books, most of them bestsellers, she still doesn’t have the luxury of ‘just writing.’ Stephen King is in very much the same position. Stephen is constantly trying to find better ways to promote and publish his work. He writes at least 8 hours every day then spends the rest of the time trying to find a better way to do business.

The only authors who are able to “just write” do so because they have family money, are supported by a family member, or have other sources of income. No working author gets a free ride.

If you want to write, you will have to learn to promote your work. That’s how it was for Chaucer. It’s how it’s going to be for you.

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From Newsweek:

Books aren’t dead

The number of books in print in 2008 rose 38 percent from the year before (which itself was up 38 percent from 2006).

Where are all those books coming from? Both mainstream and self-publishers have contributed to the flood. But the real answer lies in university libraries, which are suddenly hawking publishing rights to the contents of their stacks – or at least what’s out of print or in the public domain. Latest example: The University of Michigan (partnering with Google for the digitization and with an Amazon offshoot called BookSurge for printing) plans to offer more than 400,000 titles for sale on demand. Cornell plans to do the same with 500,000 titles, and the University of Pennsylvania plans to add another 200,000. Publishing’s obituary may be, much like Mark Twain’s, premature. – Malcolm Jones

What do you think?  Are books dead?

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Thursday 13 – On publishing

(Thursday 13’s were revived by Janet and?Megan?)

Ok, I’m on a little bit of a rant. So please forgive me, but I think people need to know about the changes in publishing. So many authors hold on to their fiction, hoping and praying for to win the lotto and a big publishing house will deem them valuable.?

It’s a new time. New times require different and new methods of publishing.

So here’s my list of thirteen thoughts on publishing:

1. Publishing standards were created when books were set one character at a time.

2. Most ‘great works of fiction’ were written long hand with fountain tip pens.

3. There’s never been a time when so many people not only could read but had the capacity (internet, libraries, Amazon) to read.

4. eBooks are the only growing segment of the publishing market.

5. Large publishers have consistently lost money while small publishers have flourished.

6. Large publishing houses no longer support their authors with editing, copyediting or marketing assistance.?

7. More and more, authors are on their own to care for their books including all marketing, copyediting and content editing.

8. ?On average, a new book sells fifty copies. Most assume that’s the number of friends and relatives recruited to purchase the book. (This number is from ‘How to write a bestseller by Mueller.)

9. The large publishing houses have stopped or dramatically slowed their purchases. I’ve heard that they are simply ‘not buying’.

10. At the same time, traditional distribution channels (i.e., book stores) are locked down by publishers. In other words, you must be a publisher to get your book into most bookstores.

11. ?If you’re interested in publishing, and books, you should read these articles.?

• Giving it away by Corey Doctorow
• Books, Going Forward by Mark Tavani
• Read it and weep by Jason Boog
• Blog books open doors by Jason Davis
• Generate Buzz on the Web
• The Wovel
• Tim Ferris on using a viral idea to create a best seller

12. Many publishers are hiring writers to churn out the same books over and over again so that they can fill their list. These authors work for the publishers writing exactly what the publishers want them to write. Period.

13. The number one reason publishers fail is over stock. Publishers must pre-print books. They sell them to book stores who buy them on credit. Book stores have months to attempt to sell the book. If they are unable to sell them, they return the books to the publisher. Ever been to a 50% off store? That’s all the back stock that didn’t sell and was returned from bookstores.

Share with me - what do you know about publishing today that you’d like to share? Leave it in the comments and I’ll link to you here.

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For much of my life, this was the motto. You have to publish or you’ll perish in achedemia. Day by day, research grant by research grant, theories and bullshit were pulled together into papers. Most papers were published because:

• Frank knew Sam
• Sam knew Joe
• Joe sits on John’s research grant committee.
• John’s brother’s wife’s sister’s husband runs a scientific magazine.

Of course they have ‘peer review’ but that’s mostly Sam, Joe, John, and Frank. Yep, that’s how it works.

Have friends? You’ll get published.

When this thing happened to me, and I had to had to had to write a novel, I had friends. Just not friends in publishing. That’s not exactly true since Lynda Sandoval and I are friends. Still, you know what I mean.

First, I was arrogant. Write a great book, it will get published. (I’m sure you’re laughing WITH me here….)

Because I wrote for the Open Grove for ten years, I knew that a great novel needed a peer review. The first draft of the novel went out to twenty-five friends. Their responses were amazing, helpful, and fabulous. One woman bought me a copy of her seventh grade English book so that I would have it. People were so generous with their time.

A second draft came. Another round of peer reivew with fabulous helpful suggestions. Amazing.

After revisions, the second draft made the rounds of agents, publishers, and anyone I could show it to. The rejections were immediate, painful, sometimes personal and worse, impersonal dismissive. Wow.

Until Scott Eagen emailed me to say, “Love the characters, but you need to rework it”.

Fuck.

The third draft happened and made the rounds. ?In the process, people said things like: “The best book I’ve read all year” or “If I was on the bus, I’d have missed my stop”.?

I was thrilled! I finally have a book ready, really ready to present to the publishing world.

And the publishing world fell apart.

Three years of work, fifty people’s time and effort, and… the publishing titan are falling down. I couldn’t imagine putting my three years of work onto the Titanic and hope that it makes the voyage. I’m not stupid.

Out of frustration:

• ?I started the Denver Cereal. And loved it. ?
• I read a few interesting articles.
• I watched?Cory Doctorow?create a career for his fiction online. ?(If you haven’t read the article?Giving it away, it’s worth a read.) His latest book was on the New York Times bestseller list for months.?

What should I do??

Then Black Wednesday happened. December 3, 2008, the publishing industry downsized.

Crap.

After a long, heart wreching conversation, I made my decision. ?I’m releasing the novel, called The Fey, into the wild.

To that end, the group of us started Cook Street Publishing. We plan to specialize in novels released on the web. Our motto is “fiction that’s written to be read.”

The Fey will make it’s debut appearance on this blog on Friday. Like Denver Cereal, I will release one chapter at a time on this blog and StoriesbyClaudia.com. The book will be available every day at AlextheFey.com. And the book is available for purchase.?

Unlike Denver Cereal, which is a serial fiction, this is a novel. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. The Fey is a thriller and the first of a series. The second book, Learning to Stand, is another waiting in the wings to be released, probably next year. The third book, Who I am, will be released in 2011.

At least that’s the plan so far.?

We’re starting something that’s sort of new and sort of old school. Remember James Joyce published the Dubliners himself. Walt Whitman sold his books door to door. Even Mark Twain owned a publishing company.

In the end, I can either leave the manuscripts rotting on my hard drive or share them.?

I guess I’m fool enough to share.

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