What's In the Wind for 2013? Some Thoughts

Via Morning Media news feed (the daily industry news feed provided by MediaBistro; the complete story appeared in TechCrunch by East Coast Editor, John Biggs) - Excerpts of Mr. Biggs' thoughts on what may the publishing biz may see in 2013:

"Add in the merger of Penguin and Random House – a Napster-esque move designed to stave off the vagaries of a non-collusive market – and you’ve got an even bleaker picture.

In short, after centuries of progress, the old method of transmitting information via the printed page – not to mention the publisher’s tendency to control content with an iron fist – is crumbling. In its place we have an entirely new system and regime, one ruled less by a central authority – the editors, publishers, and printers of yore – and now ruled by the mob.

That’s not a bad thing. It lets people publish books that would have never seen a printing press and it gives an organization with seemingly bottomless resources – Amazon – the ability to define the rules to which all others must cleave. This new media has laid a book store chain low, bleeding publishers nearly dry in the process, and it has changed the way we consume media from a slow meal savored over time to an experience more akin to grazing or, more precisely, a bit of sushi on the go."

and more thoughts from Mr. Biggs:

"Goodbye, Barnes & Noble stores. Barnes & Noble stores will see a massive contraction while smaller booksellers will thrive. B&N knows what’s up. They recently split their company into two and now one company sells paper books and the other one sells digital. In fact, Microsoft invested in the digital side, leaving the print side to fend for itself. And fend it must. Although this year saw brisk sales at small mom & pops, B&N saw a minor dip in retail sales due to store closings and slow sales in stores and on BN.com. Even the college business is slowing.

A major writer will go digital. I doubt Stephen King will make the jump, but one of the lesser mystery folks will probably go all digital. Why not? It gets them more cash for their efforts and places them at the helm of their business – and blockbuster writing is a business. Going indie no longer has a stigma attached."

Not sure if the last is much of a prediction since it seems that the J. A. Konrath motivated self-pub/digital move is one being taken by any numer of authors, from unpubbed to multi-pubbed authors reissuing their back list either via a self-publishing forum or making deals for those back list books to be reissued in digital via digital house other than their current pub houses.

But will there be a new E L James in town? A new J. A. Konrath? Waiting with bated breath!!!

What are you predicting for the 2013 year in publishing - What trends, writers, digital changes, books-to-film do you foresee?

Arriving on 12/26, my February 2013 issue of RT Magazine arrived yesterday and had some interesting bits and tids in it, that may offer some insight into what's up and coming in the romance pub game - reports & predictions from an industry leader that's been watching the romance game for decades.

There's an article on the new genre of "New Adult", geared to college and early 20's readers that will be a new trend to watch. For those 20-somethings who aren't interested in YA, who are looking for more mature subject matter and possibly more in the way of the physical relationship between the couples.

Additionally, there's a brief discussion on the issue of Harlequin's category line changes.

Harlequin Blaze line has dropped from 6 titles per mont to 4 (which begs the question regarding erotic/steamy romance - does HQ know something about a waning appetite for hot love stories that no other publisher seems to have noticed????).

Harlequin Presents Extra imprint has been closed. From the Harlequin website listing for guidelines for each line, this is what it says about the HP Extra:

"They offer all the international glamour, passion and alpha male heroes you expect from Harlequin Presents, with a flirty young voice and a whole load of sass!

Written by talented, original authors such as Heidi Rice, Natalie Anderson, Kelly Hunter, Kimberly Lang, Anne Oliver, Anna Cleary and Lucy King, these entertaining romances reflect the life experiences of today's young women, within a chic, upmarket, and usually urban setting. The heroines are often your twenty-something girls-about-town but there's no compromising on the Presents Extra/Riva hero: he must be very alpha and absolutely to die for. There'll be sparks flying when these two meet—and nothing short of fireworks once they get to the bedroom!"

But HQ has also launched a new imprint, KISS, which, if you've heard anything about it, sounds like a blend of higher-aged NA, rom-com and chick lit. According to the RT report, author Kimberly Lang (one of whose books is in the inaugural quartet) says, "KISS is very contemporary and smart with a young and vibrant urban feel. "We're taking some of our favorite romance books and giving them a little twist to deliver fun, flirty and sizzling stories for our readers. We're also updating the alpha hero - he's a little younger, a bit flirty, a little less damaged and broody..."

To me that sounds like the "rom com is dead", and "chick lit" is dead adages may be waning as well, and some "fun and flirty" romance is on the way!

Further, the popularity of the tortured hero may have left readers in the cold who are looking for a kinder, gentler, less angst-ridden hero type and HQ is seeking to fill that gap.

(But it also sounds awfully similar to HP Extra, doesn't it? I'd love to discover if the changes are merely cosmetic, perhaps length and a kickier imprint name than the rather stodgy Extra one?)

But ultimately it sounds like a perfect example of genre blending - taking all the best aspects of 3 genres (or more?) and turning them into a new, hybrid romance that looks to satisfy as many tastes as possible!

HQ is often on the forefront of romance changes, so maybe we'll see more coming our way.

Definitely appears that a KISS title or two should be in your TBR pile so you can check out this latest trend, no?

Taking the opportunity here now to proslytize a teeny weeny bit, too. Trend watching in romance publishing, keeping abreast of industry changes in the romance genre are something we all pretty much do as a matter of course, right? But how much time do you spend casting your eye across the entertainment landscape as a whole? Trends are not isolated in books - TV and film are usually in sync to a certain degree as well (can you count the vampire and paranormal TV shows? I can't!). Sex plot lines in films and in theatre continue apace with the hunger for erotic romance between the covers. Cowboys - historical and contemporary are hot on screens large and small - as they are in romance.

As someone once said in connection with the railroad magnates who found their empires crumbling in the face of transportation advances (i.e., THE AUTOMOBILE), "They thought they were in the railroad business. They didn't realize they were in the transportation business."

We in publishing (be we authors, agents, publishers or any other sort) are not simply in the publishing business - we are in the entertainment business. Competing for time and dollars and being as aware of the entire industry cannot help but give you an interesting perspective.

So go forth in 2013 - armed with your crystal ball and a wealth of industry knowlege that makes you a force to be reckoned with!


"If the artist does not fling himself, without reflecting, into his work, as Curtis flung himself into the yawning gulf, as the soldier flings himself into the enemy's trenches, and if, once in this crater, he does not work like a miner on whom the walls of his gallery have fallen in; if he contemplates difficulties instead of overcoming them one by one...he is simply looking on at the suicide of his own talent." Honore de Balzac

My Head Hurts: The Google Settlement (Amended), et al

PW reports on the amended settlement in the Google/Authors Guild deal. Judge Chin accepted the revised agreement and imposed a new deadline for objections to the revised deal of January 28, 2010. A final "fairness" hearing is set for Feb. 18, 2010.

Unfortunately, it still looks to me that the losers in the deal will be (surprise, surprise) the authors. I have a print-out of the redlined revised amendment. Someday when I have nothing better to do I'll read all 337 pages of it. Oy. Apparently the onus has been shifted, somewhat, off the rights holders and onto Google. And international books have been taken out of the deal (US, UK, Australia and Canada remain). But I'd love to have one of the attorneys sit me down and explain exactly how it works. When Google finds an "orphaned" work, they snatch it up, start providing it and make money off of someone else's book/writings, without ever paying a penny for it. And if the work has a rightsholder front and center? They get 67% of the income. Google and the other "resellers" split the diff?

Too much math involved (and for those who dont' know my math skills are commensurate with my nuclear physics skills - which is to say non-existent).

In one corner of the world (i.e. ROMANCE) these last 2 weeks the glare of the spotlight was squarely on Harlequin. After a previous announcement of the start-up of their YA line (all good), and after the 60th Birthday celebrations died down, HQ announced the Carina all-digital arm. Angela James, digital proponant and late of Samhain and the gone-before-it-got-started Quartet Press, was announced to be the head of the new launch(good for you, Angela!) Rather than the release of e-books that had been or were being released as print titles, and different than the Spice Briefs and Nocturn Bites (shorts) that were all e-book shorts, Carina plans full-length novels, of a variety of types and flavors, without any future print release.

This started the rumblings amid the groups who don't favor e-books. And many, many questions arose as to royalty rates, etc., esp. when the Carina site indicated no advances would be paid (I can practically hear the squeals of distress from RWA over that one) and that the DRM process would not be implemented (opening the door to easier piracy and sharing of books, meaning fewer royalty dollars for authors). But apparently there were sufficient interested parties (read: desperate authors) because the Carina site was deluged with submissions.

Then - like a precursor to a Richter-scale sized quake - after the pre-shock - Carina - came the biggest news. HQ's even newer project: Harlequin Horizons - a self-publishing operation (called a vanity press by most) - with little tantalizing bits of info that would give the rejected Harlequin submittee a new 'lease' on their writing life by paying to be pubbed by the Harlequin Horizons line. That "Harlequin" would (kind of/sort of) be their publisher. And the additional tease that, if sales were good, they might be reconsidered to be a 'real' author (the quotes aren't mine - my opinion on self or vanity pubbing is a heated subject for another time and place).

The outcry against this op began with the Romance Writers of America whose "alerts" alerted their members that HQ was now verboten. Out. Kicked to the curb. No advertising HQ titles in Romance Sells. And they banished every single ARM of HQ - not just the Horizons folk. What this meant for RWA members pubbed, or dreaming of bineg an HQ pub was not clear. (Can I be in PAN? Can I get a "First Sale" notice?) HQ pubbed authors were concerned about the diluting of the brand that they were published with (and the taint of the self-pubbed author) (note that 2009 Pres. Diane Pershing was a multi-pubbed HQ author; so is this year's President, Michelle Monkou). What might it mean for entering the RITA with an HQ pubbed book, or having HQ attendees at the National conference, and many other questions arose and with lightening speed zoomed across the Yahoo group loops, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and every other conceivable avenue of communication.

There have been few responses from National to these questions from their members. But when the Mystery Writers of America and Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers joined the outcry, HQ began making subtle and quiet changes. Now the self-publisher is "DellArte Press". No sign of the vaunted HQ name anywhere. Apparently some of the other "too good to be true" bait has also been removed. Satisfying the HQ pubbed authors and, perhaps, the writing organizations who have booted HQ from their "reconigzed" (read: approved) publishers. No word that I have seen as to how the triumverate of writers' groups are responding to this change.

What I found particularly ironic is that numerous other "real" publishers already have partnerships in place with self-publishing operations (Random House, Thomas Nelson's West Bow Press and Smashwords - partners with B&N) were blithely ignored. Can't quite figure out why.

Time will tell! But the vitriol was at such a fever pitch that I was expecting word any minute that Donna Hayes and her henchwomen had been dragged from their Canadian offices and were being tarred,feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. Can you say "i'ts just business"?

As we creep up on the end of the year (a tough business year, for sure), the holiday gift-giving season and no new Twilight, Harry Potter, Dan Brown or other mega-mega title coming down the pike, what does 2010 hold in store? (Adult hardcover sales were up 2.9% for the quarter, but all thinking is that this was a Dan Brown phenom, rather than an upswing in the sales game overall.)

Well, Kensington's doing that little Snoopy dance, having had a stellar year. But they seem to be one of the few bright lights in a continuing tough year.

Fewer mall stores than ever before (Barnes & Noble & Borders) planned. B. Dalton and Waldenbooks stores being phased out. Will 2010 improve the bleak brick & mortar picture? The big three of non-bookstores: Target, WalMart and Amazon continue the "how low can you go" game of lowering prices on books to $8.97, undercutting publishers, hurting the dedicated booksellers and, naturally, the authors. (Lower publishers' profits and that will become fewer titles purchased, lower advances, etc.).

Barnes & Noble is making sure that they don't have all their eggs in one brick and mortar basket, however. They re-launched their e-book store, and its partnership with Google to sell digital books was expanded by its launch of the NOOK e-reader (Count 'Em! 700,000 titles!). Orders were such that the ship date was pushed from Nov. 30 to Dec. 18 (still in time for Christmas). Admittedly not a subject I'm all that well versed in, techno-phobe that I am, but I'm intrigued by the Nook's wireless capabilities (what always kept me from the Sony E-Reader). With lots of little perks - like "sharing" a title with a friend, free downloads while in-store to read as much as you want, and - for those who care - designer Nook covers by such heavy hitters as Kate Spade, it looks to put a crimp in the Kindle holiday stocking of profits.

December's just days away. NaNoWriMo is in full swing as writers the world over seek the elusive 50,000 word MS. The turkey's just a memory (well, not in my house...) and holiday titles are sweeping onto the shelves. "New Moon" is breaking box office records (no dearth of goodies under the tree for Stephanie Meyer, eh?) and somewhere out there is an author deciding how to best get her book into print. Print? Digital? Self-publish? Chisel and stone tablet?

It's a tough business. And every author has to make their own decision as to what process suits them best. Make sure to educate yourself - don't be sucked in by the advertising, word-of-mouth gossip, or the lure of cash. Only you can know what is best for you. Whether you are able to market yourself, or want to rely on someone else to do that. Whether you want to hie to a prescribed formula for a genre novel, or break the rules, break out of the box and tell your story your way. Whether you want your words available in as many formats as possible so you can share your story, or whether you want to hold that physical thing that is a book in your hands (or put it in your parents' stocking). Whether you want the cash up front or are willing to put in the work to get the royalties coming to you over time - or even paying up front to get the book published and then be your own sales person. Many decisions to make. And as a creative professional, only you know what is going to work for you.

Time Waits For No Blogger

Boy has the world been zipping by! Time has flown and I'm still in the coop. But hey, I'm here now and this is some of the news that's happening:

The economy still stinks. Booksellers, publishers, and everyone else keep laying people off (including the big news of Feb, Editor in Chief of Publisher's Weekly, Sara Nelson herself). Sales are down. Natch.

Moving on.

E-books are still in the news. The Authors Guild and Amazon settled quick on the issue of voice software but everyone's waiting to see how that plays out. The Big A backed down, but those in the know figure there'll be some other battles on the horizon that won't be quite so polite.

A Chicago Sun Times blog by Mark Coker (founder of Smashwords and Dovetail Public Relations), who moderated a panel at the Tools of Change conference just passed, said that IDPF reports November e-book sales were up 108 percent.

Amazon's new Kindle is out and everyone and their mother are reporting on what changed for the better - and what didn't change that should have. Still don't have one because (see above comment re: economy).

And along with everyone else and their mother, Hearst has announced it will be launching a wireless e-reader (according to CNNMoney.com: "The publisher plans to introduce a large-format device this year based on electronic-ink technology.") I just gotta get with the high-tech program and figure out what all this stuff means.

While overall book sales are down, down, way down, Borders reports that a few of their categories were up, including American history books and science fiction and fantasy and, YAY, romance titles!

But don't be discouraged, all you hopeful authors out there. Deals are still being made arcross the board.

A new historical novel, The Queen's Pawn, a debut novel by Christy English (a fictionalization of Eleanor of Aquitaine) sold to NAL; Laura Lippman' new title, The Girl in the Green Raincoat sold to William Morrow; a fantasy title, Griffin Summer (griffins, mages, kings) by Rachel Neumeier has sold to Orbit (very nice, 3 book deal no less!). There's a new book out by Syrie James, author of The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen that sounds like fun: Dracula, My Love: The Secret Journal of Mina Harker sold to William Morrow. Sounds like James may have found a great gimmick!

Self-published Lisa Genova, whose title Still Alice hit the big time, has sold her next two novels to Pocket, following up on the success of such other self-pubbed to trad-pubbed notable titles: The Shack, Eragon, The Hoopster, and The Celestine Prophecies.

YA paranormals still rockin' & rollin' with The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers, Lynn Weingarten's title about teen girls with magic powers that went to Harper Children's, and Chelsea Campbell (her debut) The Rise of Renegade X to Egmont.

And books are in the media news again, with more titles being optioned, including The Life of Pi, with Ang Lee on Board, and Lucy Silga's debut Beautiful Americans going to Fox Atomic.

There are a few other choice tidbits floating around as well, including the announcement (oh, everywhere? but particularly PW) that Harlequin will launch their own teen imprint with a title(s) in August '09.

I just got a gander at the Barnes & Noble Review site - who knew? March 2, 2009's offering features romance heavyweight Eloisa James reviewing the Harlequin NASCAR title by Pamela Brittan On The Move. (And I've included the link for your reading pleasure).

And The New Yorker has its Book Club blog (ditto the link next door) to keep you in the know on loftier literary doings.

In the agency game Brendan Deneen has joined FinePrint Literary where he'll continue to rep writers in publishing and film, including all genres but (says The Swivet blog), he is "particularly interested at this time in genre YA and thrillers". Check out the agency - maybe you have what they want!

And all the guys on the NYC block are sweating it a little - one of the BIG BOYS - CAA -- is comin' to town. Daily Variety announced that talent agency Creative Artists Agency is getting into the literary game for the first time, and have hired Simon Green to broker book deals for their celeb clients (like the 7-figure deal for the Jonas Brothers photo book). The other guys are concerned that CAA, despite it's pledge that they will limit themselves to "marrying CAA celebrity clients to book deals and that the percentery will not make publishing deals for established authors", will make waves in their little East Coast pond. Other big-time talent agencies have played this game, including WMA, ICM and Endeavor, and the NYC competition is giving a lot of responses along the lines of "CAA is welcome to start any business they like, but they have to understand that if we see them as competition, we will pull back submissions, and that doesn't serve their central financial engine for packaging", a quote attributed by DV to "one heavyweight agent", who added, "If they build this department to five agents in the next two years, none of us will submit our books to them."

Well, that's mostly it for now. I'm off to a new monthly event here in the Big Apple that celebrates the romance novel in all of its glorious forms. Lady Jane's Salon, a new operation formed by authors Hope Tarr, Maya Rodale and Leanna Hieber, along with Ron Hogan of GalleyCat and Beatrice.com have banded to together and are offering author readings on the first Monday of every month at Madam X, a cool club in downtown Manhattan. Tonight's offering (the 2nd of the events) has RWA/NYC chapter member Lauren Willig - a brand new New York Times bestseller author - doing the reading along with historical romance author Jenna Peterson (and her alter ego, Jess Michaels, who writes historical romance with a side of steam heat). For the price of a gently used romance novel, or a $5 contribution (proceeds going to Maya Rodale's Share The Love charity and Beatrice.com) you can meet, mingle, enjoy a cocktail and hear some glorious words of love every month. If you're in the neighborhood, why not stop by? Check out Lady Jane's MySpace link to the right.

See you there!