Too Many Books?

Are we writing too much? Is the market saturated with books and stories? Just a couple of the questions a writer acquaintance of mine posted to her blog recently. She was on a rant about writers self-publishing too many books. I'll address this specifically over at Dollars and Sense in the next day or two but it got me thinking about communication in general and how it is done in the digital age.

We are bombarded with information, entertainment, and opinion. The ads get sexier, the shows get more violent, and the books more numerous. It's all an attempt to get our attention and hold the audience, maintain the ratings or the subscriptions, and make money.

Those who read my blogs know that I am not opposed to making money. However, I do believe that in our effort to be heard, we are producing greater quantities of material without ensuring that it has quality.  For example, several new dramas for the fall season showed great promise.  Some are already cancelled.  They did not connect with their audience. There was no communication.

Whether it is a television program, an advertisement, an article, or a book, there is a communication give and take. If the audience does not understand or sympathize with the message, it moves on; something it has been willing to do ever since the advent of the remote control.

What my writer friend was trying to say was that she looks for quality in the writing that is currently produced and she isn't finding much. Care is not taken to ensure that the product being sold is worth her time and money. Sadly, that set of circumstances exists for all products. 

We have more and more that is worth less and less.  We exalt low prices but complain when product doesn't hold up. What does that say about the companies and people who produce the goods? And what about us as consumers of those products? If we continue to spend our money on inferior product, we deserve what we get. We communicate best with our wallets.

Cold Logic in these Hot Times

The interesting thing about discrimination is that it doesn't prevent inevitable change. Puritans established a new home in North America, an Irish Catholic became president, African-Americans got the vote.

It doesn’t take much research to see how often advances do not earn out and how many books go unsold. Publishers know they will save millions if they stop paying advances and discontinue the practice of printing books no one buys. In business, it is always about the money. The bottom line rules.

The paradigm has already shifted. Nothing writers’ organizations do can prevent it - no matter how hard they try.

So what do I see in the future? In the near term, some chaos. Publishing is a big ship and it will turn slowly. As it alters course, all the people associated with it will be forced to change as well.

• No advances means cash flow shifts for all parties.Publishers will have to improve their sales reporting so writers and publicists can capitalize on successful efforts.

• No returns means no royalty hold back.

• No large print runs means promotion and advertising will focus on content and credentials, not quantities shipped. No print runs also means fewer trees consumed and fewer books ending up in land fills.

The symbiotic relationship between publisher, agent and writer will transform. Income will be totally sales driven. Agents will redefine their roles and the services they provide. Book stores, if they continue to exist, will be forced to control their inventory - just like every other business. Everyone connected to the industry will operate differently in the future than they do today. The publishing industry paradigm was fine sixty years ago but it doesn’t make good business sense in today’s economy.

Do I welcome the change? For the most part, I do. Since I have never been part of the traditional publishing establishment, I am accustomed to managing my business. I work hard to promote myself and improve my product. The decisions about contracts, publishers and marketing are all mine. So, as the industry morphs into something new, I will feel less pain than some other writers because I am already dealing with it.

Perhaps those genre writers groups don’t think I’m lower quality. Maybe they discriminate because they are jealous?

Discrimination - Part One

Discrimination is an integral part of our lives. To be labeled discriminating when selecting a car or a coat is a good thing.

There is, however, a dark side to the act of discrimination. We go there when we make choices or decisions that have nothing whatever to do with individual merit. We go there when we are afraid.

At a mystery conference a few years ago, I listened to a best-selling thriller writer deliver the opening speech. In it, she bemoaned the loss of readers in general and then condemned independent and subsidy-published writers for flooding the market with books that readers chose over hers.

Several rebuttals come to mind immediately.

First, librarians tell me that reading is up. It is the manner of reading that is changing. People are reading with their ears rather than with their eyes. Audio books, in all formats, are flying off the shelves, so to speak.

Second, books are expensive and they take up a lot of space. I stopped buying books some time ago. I patronize my library. Now, with the focus on environmental responsibility, libraries make even more sense. This writer should be careful not to confuse readers with buyers. Sales may be down but her readership may be up.

Finally, that thriller writer may have declining sales because readers no longer want to read what she writes. People’s tastes change. She should examine her product and decide if it needs to be altered or replaced with a new one. She would not be the first writer to do that. We all love Spenser but we like Jesse Stone, too.

Writing is a craft; publishing is a business and that business is rapidly morphing into something entirely different. If this thriller writer owns an iPod, she is part of the change that happened in the music business. Similar changes can be seen in book publishing. She probably feels the revolution in the music business was good. She benefits from it. Obviously she, and others like her, feel those same changes in the publishing industry are not good. They are afraid.

In their fear, they lash out. They announce that the writers who have embraced the change are lower class and unworthy. They close doors to marketing opportunities. They prevent us from participating in conferences and professional organizations.

In other words, they discriminate.

Subsidy Publishing - It's Your Business

Before my first book came out, I paid particular attention to what writers said about their relationships with their publishers. They often spoke about the time and effort required to meet their publishers’ demands for sales. Since publishing is a business and publishers expect to make money off their authors, this was not a surprise to me. However, I was taken aback by how quickly authors were expected to produce new titles. In one case, the author was under contract to deliver a new manuscript every nine months. In addition, she was traveling to promote herself and her work. She was deeply concerned about honoring her commitment. She could not afford to leave her part-time job because it provided the funds for her promotional efforts. Plus she had children who needed her.

I shared similar problems so when I heard virtually identical stories from other writers, I decided to seek an alternative. Self-publishing was the obvious answer; however, I didn’t have the time or funds for that. Then Derek Hart (http://www.derekhartbooks.com/) suggested subsidy publishing through an Internet publisher. Technology to the rescue. Print-on-demand removes press runs from the equation, allowing writers to self-publish without having to fund an inventory. Some of the subsidy publishers also handled distribution. Another problem solved.

I read every subsidy publisher’s Web site, printed out and compared contracts and made a choice. All three of my mysteries have been published through a subsidy publishing company. This option met my needs perfectly.

Greased Wheels was released in 2002. Since that time, thousands of writers have published more than 300,000 titles annually, many through subsidy publishers that did not exist when I began. Some don’t even charge a fee to produce a title. A writer can be in print for zero investment.

And that leads us to the problem with subsidy publishing. Anyone and everyone can publish a book. They do not ask themselves whether or not they should.

I do not include the people who create books to preserve the family recipe collection or grandfather’s World War II memories. These books are not intended for general consumption and subsidy publishing is a wonderful way to save our history.

I address those writers who feel that, merely by publishing, they will become rich and famous. They make no investment in their work – no editing, no proofreading and, in some cases, no payment for the actual printing.

A librarian recently shared that a local writer brought her a subsidy-published book expecting the library to stock it and host a signing event. Inside the book, the librarian found multiple typographical and grammatical errors and an amateurish writing style with badly constructed paragraphs and confusing sentences. The book was poorly bound and printed on low quality paper. The author was oblivious to these flaws.

I applaud the changes in technology that allow writers to be in print. However, like all good technologies, it has bad points. The biggest is the ease and accessibility of print-on-demand printing allows writers to bypass many of the steps that are part of producing a good book.

If you are considering this form of publishing, ask yourself if you would pay the cover price for your work if someone else wrote it. Remember that self-publishing puts the burden on you. It is up to you to hire an editor and get a proofreader.

If you self-publish, you are in business. And, as any business person will tell you, doing it yourself is hard work. It may not require a lot of money but it does demand a major investment of effort and time.

Writing is a great art and a rewarding endeavor. Publishing is a business. Make sure your book is the best product you can make it.