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Home » Archives for Steve Laube » Page 119

Steve Laube

Goodbye to Traditional Publishing?

By Steve Laubeon May 14, 2012
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by Steve Laube

Recently Ann Voss Peterson wrote of her decision to never sign another contract with Harlequin. One major statistic from the article is that she sold 170,000 copies of a book but earned only $20,000.

Multiple clients sent me Peterson’s “Harlequin Fail” article and wanted my opinion. My first thought is that this was the typical “a publisher is ripping me off” fodder. But that would be a simplistic and knee-jerk reaction and unfair to both Peterson and Harlequin.

Yes, Harlequin pays a modest royalty that is less than some publishers. Since when is that news? That has always been their business model because it is the only way to create and maintain an aggressive Direct-to-Consumer and Trade publishing program. Their publishing machine is huge and they are a “for profit” company. For Profit. If they are unprofitable, they go away.

If an author is uncomfortable with the terms, then don’t sign the contract (which is Peterson’s decision going forward). I urge each of you to be careful not to sign a contract and then complain about it later. Unless you were completely hoodwinked you agreed to those terms and should abide by them.

Understand that I am not being critical of this lady’s decision. It is her choice to do so.

But my issue is not with the money (although it is important) it is a larger question. She says she has sold 170,000 books but not made that much money. For the record Peterson has signed with Thomas Mercer which is one of the publishing divisions of Amazon.com…a traditional publisher of sorts, so she may still reach a 100,000 plus audience. So is it all about the money and not about number of readers? If Peterson had chosen to go Indie (solo) and published using the e-book option (like the Kindle Direct Program) and sold 10,000 copies she would make the same amount of money. BUT she would have 160,000 fewer readers! One Hundred and Sixty Thousand.

Consider the stadium where the Arizona Cardinals (NFL) plays seats 63,000. So, in essence this author’s choice could mean walking away from three stadium sized audiences for her stories.

In Peterson’s case it does not appear to be a dollars vs. readers issue because she has signed with another publisher. But for many who are frustrated with their publishing experience it is a good question to ask.

Reaching 170,000 readers is a rare place in this busy industry. And don’t forget that the success of those numbers made her an attractive acquisition for Amazon.com . That is not the case for most writers whose midlist numbers can be depressing. (Read CBA fiction author Eric Wilson who laid out his income while publishing with traditional publishers over a ten year period and has chosen to go a different route with his new books.)

If you wish to wave goodbye to traditional publisher and go Indie (independent) I believe the first question to ask is whether or not you want to start a small business. Just like an entrepreneur.  Those authors who are entrepreneurs are ideally suited for the self-publishing route. The understand the energy it takes and pitfalls ahead.

The second question is whether they can sell enough copies to make it all worthwhile. And are also are willing to take responsibility if a book fails.

But not all artists are entrepreneurs. I know of many authors who have gone this route. One sold 1,000 copies of their e-book in a year. Another is averaging about $1,000 in revenue each month…but had to self-publish ten books to reach that threshold. Another has sold about 2,500 e-copies in a few months but the numbers are slowing considerably. Each of these writers can get much more guaranteed income from going the traditional route. Their indie effort is nice income (in this business any income is nice) but it is not a replacement.

P.S. In my opinion it is wrong to compare Amazon’s traditional publishing divisions (like Thomas Mercer) with other publishers. Amazon is so incredibly large and diversified that they could lose money on publishing for five years and still be profitable elsewhere. For a company like Harlequin they are solely vested in publishing (not Zappos shoes, or used books, or electronics). Thus their cost structure is different. Amazon has brilliantly used their economic model and created one that takes advantage of their infrastructure without having to build from scratch.

Is that a defense of traditional publishing? It could be seen that way. But it is more a reminder not to compare oranges with apples. They are not identical.

Your Turn

What is your take on this issue?

Is there a question on this topic you would like to have answered in a future blog?

Leave a Comment
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Defense of Traditional Publishing, E-Books, Steve, TrendsTag: Contracts, royalties, Traditional Publishing

Word Trivia

By Steve Laubeon May 11, 2012
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Word Trivia

“Stewardesses" and "reverberated" are the two longest (and commonly used) words (12 letters each) that can be typed with only the left hand.

"lollipop" is the longest word typed with your right hand.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or …

Read moreWord Trivia
Category: Fun Fridays, HumorTag: Fun, Humor, Trivia

News You Can Use – May 8, 2012

By Steve Laubeon May 8, 2012
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Traditional Advertising is Truly Dead - Not sure I agree with the over the top headline, but the article does make some excellent points. A quote from the article:
"The equation used to be: money x media = business.
The new equation is: time x media = business.
In other words, every company is a media company."
Microsoft has invested in Barnes & Noble's Nook - But before everyone gets …

Read moreNews You Can Use – May 8, 2012
Category: Marketing, News You Can UseTag: fiction, Marketing, Twitter

Fun Fridays – May 4, 2012

By Steve Laubeon May 4, 2012
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Enjoy this clever three minute book trailer for the new prequel to The Godfather releasing next week (titled The Family Corleone).

No editors were harmed in the filming of this video. At least that we know of.

Watch past the credits.

Read moreFun Fridays – May 4, 2012
Category: Fun FridaysTag: book trailer, Humor

News You Can Use – May 1, 2012

By Steve Laubeon May 1, 2012
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Amanda Hocking is Happy with her Publisher – An update from the woman whose self-published ebooks garnered a monster traditional deal.

10 Best First Lines in Fiction - Chosen by editors at the Guardian (UK). Do you agree or disagree?

How We Will Read in the Future - An excellent interview with Maria Popova, the curator for the great BrainPickings blog. (The article is about 2,500 words long …

Read moreNews You Can Use – May 1, 2012
Category: News You Can UseTag: Craft, ebooks, Google Ads, Marketing, Reading

Blood, Guts and Peanuts: What it’s Like Writing with Ted Dekker

By Steve Laubeon April 30, 2012
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Guest blog by Tosca Lee

Our guest today is Tosca Lee, author of Demon: A Memoir and Havah: The Story of Eve. She is also the co-author with Ted Dekker of the NYTimes bestseller Forbidden. The next book in that series will be out this Summer. A sought-after speaker and former Mrs. Nebraska, Tosca was a senior consultant for a global consulting firm until turning to writing full-time. She holds a …

Read moreBlood, Guts and Peanuts: What it’s Like Writing with Ted Dekker
Category: Guest Post, Humor, Writing CraftTag: Collaboration, Humor, Ted Dekker, Tosca Lee

Fun Fridays – April 27, 2012

By Steve Laubeon April 27, 2012
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How many book characters do you count in this short video? And what are their names?

Read moreFun Fridays – April 27, 2012
Category: Fun FridaysTag: Fun

News You Can Use – April 24, 2012

By Steve Laubeon April 24, 2012
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How to Pay a Ghost - Great post on how ghostwriting works.

A Noah's Ark for Books! - Brewster Kahle is storing a copy of every book ever published. Spending millions on storage and scanning. Fascinating.

Search Google by Reading Level - Refine your searches! Who knew Google could do this too?

Yet Another Supreme Court Case Concerning Book Sales - This time dealing with the "grey" market …

Read moreNews You Can Use – April 24, 2012
Category: News You Can UseTag: Ghostwriting, Google+, Persistence, Social Media, Supreme Court

Fun Fridays – April 20, 2012

By Steve Laubeon April 20, 2012
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An appropriate caption for this cartoon could be "What every author wishes they could say to an editor."

Read moreFun Fridays – April 20, 2012
Category: Fun FridaysTag: Editing, Humor

News You Can Use – April 17, 2012

By Steve Laubeon April 17, 2012
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Getting by on a Writer’s Income – Lawrence Block reflects on the challenges of the writing life. An excellent article from someone with a half a century of experience.

Microsoft Word is Dead – Tom Scocca in “Slate” makes a bold claim. I would vehemently disagree from the point-of-view of writers and editors and publishers. But he may be right when it comes to office collaborations and the …

Read moreNews You Can Use – April 17, 2012
Category: News You Can UseTag: lawsuit, Money, Movie rights, Writing Life
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