The Rise of the Machines: E-books, Digital Publishing & You

Consider this sampling of recent publishing news:
♥ The complex settlement between Google and the Authors’ Guild, 3 years in negotiations, is awaiting judicial approval after a postponement due to concerns over the burden the agreement places on authors and rights holders, as well as a flurry of filings and debates. The industry is holding it’s breath regarding the fate of the licensing of down-loadable electronic versions of “orphaned works”, but just recently the National Writers Union weighed in against the agreement, saying it was “grossly unfair to writers”.
♥ Barnes & Noble revamps and re-launches its e-book store with nearly 700,000 titles (many public domain works through a deal with Google). With titles available in numerous user-friendly apps, including iPhone and Blackberry, as well as the Sony Ebook Reader and others, it is clearly set to compete meaningfully against the market behemoth, Amazon.
♥ Nearly every single publishing house in the game takes a loss in almost every reported quarter. They cut staff, they cut acquisitions, they cut advances. Oh, except for Harlequin. The Grande Dame of Romance, HQ gains and gains and gains.
♥ Reports continue on the amazing surge in e-book sales. One example: in the period April – June 2009 it is reported that e-book sales tripled from that same period in 2008. Romance e-books outsell every other genre, remaining the backbone of e-publishing.
♥ HarperCollins, which recently debuted its new Harper Studio division – an experiment in drastically changing the traditional advance/royalty payment structure – adds another new division: The digital division handling titles to be released in a single format – e-book.
♥ After concerns of piracy, and debate as to whether a simultaneous release of Dan Brown’s much anticipated sequel to The DaVinci Code, The Lost Symbol, would hurt sales of the hardcover, we have go for launch: Knopf Doubleday is releasing the soon-to-be-blockbuster simultaneously in hardcover and e-book formats on [countdown, ten, nine eight, seven, six] – September 15, 2009.
♥ New apps and readers are in the works, or being released on a near-daily basis. Wired.com counts 12 different e-book readers available at this point. Numerous apps for other gadgets include those for the iPhone, iPod Touch, T-Mobile G1 and the Blackberry.
♥ Random House announces they will be doubling the number of digital books they offer to approximately 15,000 titles, citing “triple digit increases” in e-book sales. Simon & Schuster likewise announces plans to double its e-title collection, adding another 5,000 titles. 95% of the McGraw Hill company textbooks are available in e-book format.
♥ There have been over 2 million downloads of the Stanza app for iPhone and iPod Touch since summer 2008, in comparison to 900,000 Kindles sold. But studies show that the most favored e-book reader remains: the computer.
♥ Long-time NY agent, Lori Perkins, together with book packagers Holly Schmidt and Allan Penn, owners of Hollan Publishing, form a brand-new romance e-publisher, Ravenous Romance. It’s stated goal – to play with the other big boys, er, girls on the block, successful operations like Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, Loose ID and The Wild Rose Press.
♥ Dana Langvin, VP and Director of Electronic Markets at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt says he has “seen a triple digit percent increase in e-book sales and anticipates it could become as much as 10% of the market within five years.
♥ Morrow/Avon names Margot Schupf to a newly created position, Senior Vice President, Editorial Director, of its new Digital Publishing Division.
♥ The first color e-book reader goes on sale in Japan (¥ 99,75, or $1,000).
♥ As we “go to press”, Quartet Press is the latest new e-publisher, starting with their first imprint, Quench, for romance e-books, with other genres to come. And they hit the ground running, hiring digital publishing heavy-hitter, and e-pub advocate, Angela James away from Samhain Publishing.
* * *
There is no doubt about it. Regardless of the myriad debates over pricing, formats, compatibility, cost, monopolies, gadgets, payment to authors, release strategies and the future of the print book, digital publishing is here to stay. And getting bigger, stronger and more prominent with every day that passes. Understanding the realities of this sea-change in publishing is paramount if you are to navigate the business, make the right decisions for your career and understand how it is all going to impact you in the years to come.
Keep your eyes on the news, for details about traditional publishers changing their payment structure to authors (vis a vis advances against royalties, royalty percentage of e-books versus print books, etc.) and other changes to contracts that will be made to accommodate the new formats. Watch e-publishers as they also evolve. Samhain already pays a token advance, and the publishers’ royalty percentages on an e-book are around 30-40%. Will that change, too? Prices for books released by the e-publishers are fairly low. Will they raise theirs to be closer to the traditional publishers selling e-book versions of bestsellers in order to garner a bigger piece of the pie? Or will trad publishers LOWER theirs to be competitive? Will the two distinct business models remain just that, or will they grow further apart? Or will we see a hybrid model evolve that embraces the best of both worlds, and addresses such fiendish problems as the dreaded RETURNS. How is the entire industry going to deal with copyright, piracy and fair use? What about reversion of rights and new definitions of what is, or is not, “in print”? So many questions, so little time!
The industry has seen the future and it is the e-book. Make sure you are making yourself competitive, too, by understanding the business evolution that is underway. RWA has an electronic chapter, ESPAN. There is also EPIC, the individual organization (and sponsor of the prestigious EPPIE awards). Discussions on every aspect of the digital revolution are held at BEA, the EPIC conference being held in New Orleans this March, the Writers Digest conference upcoming in September, the O’Reilly Tools for Change Conference, and the new Digital Book World Conference in January, 2010. There are countless blogs, websites, and such industry sources as BookSquare and Publishers Lunch/Publishers Marketplace, too. Publications like Wired, Publishers Weekly, and even Writers Digest, are invaluable. Likewise, the topic of e-books and the digital publishing industry are covered in every business publication from the Wall Street Journal to Newsweek.
The ideas that e-books will not be competitive, or are not being considered as equal opportunity sources of enjoyment compared to print books, are outdated. NY Times bestselling authors are writing for both e-pubs and print. And major publishers aren’t just using e-publishing as a way to release titles. They’re using it in various ways to boost sales, including “free” giveaways of older titles to rev up interest in new releases, including James Patterson. [The top 3 Kindle bestsellers in recent days (reports Publishers Lunch) are 3 free books, including Patterson’s The Angel Experiment.] Whether you are looking to be published in e-book format as a first step toward traditional publishing, if you intend to stick with e-books for the flexibility and cutting edge technological aspects, or if you are a multi-published author with a NY house who now has to cope with changes in your contract that accommodate the new format (and new practices such as freebies, and how that practice impacts your ability to earn royalties), you cannot afford to be in the dark about e-publishing.
You’ve been warned, Sarah Connor!

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!

So We'vePicked Ourselves Up, Dusted Off & Are Starting Again

January 26, 2009.

All the 2008 tallying has been done, the news was bad, badder and worst, but now, like a phoenix from the ashes, the old Publishing Game rises again.

Publishers cut more than 1,200 jobs in 2008 (and this is a conservative estimate based on what they'll all actually admit). Barnes & Noble just announced they're cutting 100 at its headquarters (4% of NY workforce). Random House has reorganized and restructured its three publishing groups. Borders has a new chairman, Richard McGuire (former hedge fund executive - now call me crazy, but isn't that sector having an awful lot of problems of its own?) and the NEA survey that proudly announced reading rose to 119 million in 2008 (versus 115.5 million in 2002, breaking down the numbers shows a slightly different - and less rosy - story. PW shows the breakdown (1/19/09 issue) and in every category, the Percentage of Adults Who Read a Book Not Required for Work or School fell several points. The catch? The "reading" included everything read anywhere or anytime - and a single poem constituted "more". Anything that constituted "literary" was acceptable and I, for one, wonder how lenient the respondents were with this rating! Moreover, the prior study did not include electronic materials, so that, in itself, may well account for the jump. But rest assured that everyone in the Pub Game will be poring over these numbers for quite some time to come in an effort to wring a rosy scenario from it, as well as put it to the best use in their own game. Still, any news that says we're reading is good news.

The economy is hitting conventions and conferences hard in all industries. The New York ComicCon, reported by PW to be the fourth largest event in NYC is showing a bit of fall off, though Lance Fensterman event director of Reed Exhibitions says they expect presales to pick up right before the show. Hope so, Lance!

Sales were down, too, sharply at the end of the year but when all was said and done, the last quarter debacle was helped by prior periods' health and the news was painful, but not agonizing.

Still, it was thrilling to see the Publisher's Lunch Deluxe 1/12 edition that reported 10 new romance sales for the date, as did the 1/19 edition, covering every genre and indicating that the powerhouse genre is still going strong.

Among others, the lovely and entertaining Wendy Corsi Staub's new deal was announced, taking the 30 title Kensington author to Avon, where her first three titles have been signed by Lucia Macro. Congrats Wendy! Keep those NYT bestselling hits a' coming.

The film biz is also sticking with the books. Edgar Sawtelle's been optioned by Tom Hanks, and The Reincarnationists, MJ Rose's title to Warner Bros. as a pilot for Fox.

There's plenty more where this came from folks, but night has fallen and I'm hitting the road.

More later.

December 30, 2008 - Winding Down The Year

As 2008 - a year of turmoil, strife, challenge and change - winds down, lots is going on in the publishing game. Much of it points to continued tension in the business come 2009.

Publisher's Marketplace reports that the huge Barnes & Noble store in Harrisburg PA that has been under construction will not open. The Patriot-News said that the mall owner's financial difficulties have left it in default of the mortgages owed TD Bank (in the neighborhood of $50 million and change).

PM also reports, citing Freep.com, that Borders' share price, closing at $ .37 cents on Monday (a drop of $ .06) puts it in jeopardy of review by the New York Stock Exchange. The new price per share is down from the $1.00 it was at on November 26 when Borders made the announcement that it was no longer seeking a buyer. They quote a Farmington Hills turnaround expert, Ken Dalto as saying, "They tried to sell and there weren't really any takers at the price they wanted." and further, "Borders is a 1980s, 1990s concept. They are not going to have the market share they used to have. One way or another, they are going to have to downsize. The method of distribution of entertainment has fundamentally changed in the past 10 years. Borders doesn't have a cutting edge, that's the problem." The article also blames Borders' troubles on their inability to hold a market share from the powerhouse of e-selling, Amazon.

The written word lost several luminaries in the past few days. Playwright Harold Pinter passed away at age 78 on December 25. Children's book illustrator of one of my favorites, A Child's Garden of Verses, Margery Gill died at 83 (October 31st). Mystery author Hillary Waugh died on December 8th at 88. And Thomas B. Congdon, editor of, among many others, Peter Benchley and David Halberstam, died at 77.

Reported by everyone and their mother, on the "who wrote a book and lied" front this week, Angel at the Fence, the "memoir" by Herman Rosenblat - purporting to be a poignant history of how he met his wife while a prisoner at Buchenwald in Nazi Germany - has been disputed by historians and upon receiving new information from Rosenblat's agent, Berkeley (an imprint of Penguin) announced it was pulling the title. Penguin's had a tough year, having to pull the gang-memoir by Margaret B. Jones, Love and Consequences, and a scant month later they severed their relationship with romance author Cassie Edwards over her alleged copyright infringement and plagiarism of other sources.

An anonymous source at the Sunday Seattle Times said book reviews are being reduced to a single page on Sunday and a single review on Friday. At another paper, The Washington Post is losing Marie Arana, who had spent 15 years editing the Book World section of that paper. Arana is leaving to "pursue a full-time writing career" reports Galley Cat.

As newspapers cut their coverage, look to the web for continued reviews, not just for romance titles but books of every ilk. A wise author will be compiling a hefty database of these sites for their own purposes. Hey, how many papers or magazines (outside of RT) review romances anyway?

The end of the year is when we start seeing those "best of" lists (everything from best book to best cheese, I swear). So not to be left out of the stampede, I'm reporting some here (no one wants to hear what MY idea of the best books of the year were, after all!):

PW's Best Books List includes Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth on the fiction list (among numerous other notable authors' titles), Lie Down with the Devil by Linda Barnes on the mystery list, the Elizabethan paranormal, Ink and Steel by Elizabeth Bear under SF/Fantasy/Horror, and the first title of the Jordan Dane tri-fecta, No One Heard Her Scream under mass market. The lists were long and varied, but these titles popped out at me.

The NY Times, of course, does everything in a big way, so their list is not the best of the year, but (drum roll, please) The Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years - and the winner is: Beloved by Toni Morrison. Runners-up included Don DeLillo's massive tome, Underworld, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, John Updike's quartet, Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels, and American Pastoral by American iconic author Philip Roth (who had so many titles under the other high-vote getters that they should just give him a separate list). Sadly for us feminists, the only other female author to make the pack of also-rans was Marilynne Robinson for Housekeeping.

The list was presented along with an essay by literary critic, A. O. Scott, discussing the questions raised during the selection process (debate? really?). Included were, what, exactly is fiction, what qualities would make something the "best". Even the notion of what, exactly, was meant by "the last 25 years" apparently led to a lively debate.

In the business arena, the NY Times also ran a story on December 24th predicting the e-book's slow rise is going to be picking up speed. The race is being fueled, apparently, according to Brad Stone and Motoko Rich, by the e-book device battle between Kindle and Sony (which was helped apparently in pre-holiday sales by the fact that the Kindle was out of stock, possibly the result of an Oprah plug in October which led to faster than anticipated sales. Oops.)

Steve Haber, president of Sony's digital reading division is quoted as saying, "The perception is that e-books have been around for 10 years and haven't done anything. But it's happening now. This is really starting to take off." He reports that the Sony reader sales had tripled this holiday season when compared to last year. Since the debut of the original model of the Reader in 2006, he says, they've sold 300,000 devices. Amazon wasn't talking, but a book market researcher, Peter Hildick-Smith, president of the Codex Group, said he believed the figure was approximately 260,000 units through the beginning of October (pre-Oprah). Others however suggest the number is closer to a million. Further information shows that many Kindle buyers are "outside the usual gadget-hound demographic". Almost as many women as men and it is a popular device among the 55-64 year old age group.

Simon & Shuster, along with Harper Collins and Random House, say that e-sales are still a small percentage of their overall sales, but they do agree that sales of e-books have "tripled or quadrupled in the last year".

Harlequin Enterprises reported in the NYT piece that "expected sales of digital versions of the company's books someday to match or potentially outstrip sales in print". So says Malle Vallik, director for digital content and itneractivity. Harlequin's 120 titles per month makes all of them available digitally, along with their e-only shorts under Spice Briefs and Nocturne Bites.

A last detail from the article: "Scroll Motion announced this week that it would begin selling e-books for the iPhone from major publishers like Simon & Schuster, Random House and Penguin. All of these cmopaneis say they are now tailoring their software for other kinds of smartphones, including BlackBerrys. Publishers say these iPhone applciations are already starting to generate nearly as many digital book sales as the Sony Reader..."

Both Amazon and Sony are expected to introduce new versions of their machines in 2009. And they'd better be good, because competitors like Plastic Log and E Ink, are on the way with their own devices (both models planned to be on sale in 2010).

And a little closer to home. From Penny Sansevieri, The Marketing Expert, comes some advice on writing web copy. She advises you to write in narrow columns of text; use bullet points and "read more" buttons (research shows people scan for interesting bits and then hunker down); stay on point (you have less than a second to grab attention, so distill copy to the important details); use captivating headlines and make sure to make your message obvious, using headlines, lists and bold text to convey your message; and use links - to other areas on your site and other relevant sites.

She also has some advice on making your book trailer stand out: 1. Keep it short (30 seconds); Use Flash as your program to stream your video; 3. Avoid poorly produced videos and bad acting - still shots can be just as engaging; 4. Make sure your music is Rights Free or that you own them; 5. Don't forget to include a cover of your book and where to find it.

In January there are free telecasses from AME University. The Building Blocks of Book Marketing on January 1, 2009 from 4-5 pm, and Book Signing Gold on January 22nd, same time. See Penny's link further down the page for details or send an email to author@amarketingexpert.com.

Once again let me suggest that you subscribe to this e-zine newsletter. It is chock full of info on marketing and promo and has lots of links to classes and other opportunities.

And further on the author marketing front, Amazon has launched Author Pages - though it is experimental. 2,500 "customized selling pages for authors", which "store" the company hopes to make home to webpages for all authors. (Reported by PW, PL and by Galley Cat). Here's what Amazon says: "Amazon has added a new way of finding books to its site, which the company is calling Author Stores, single pages that feature all books from a particular author, plus, in many cases, an author photo and some related content, such as a biography, message board and streaming video."

So much for tonight, folks, this is a lot of information. I've got plenty more where this came from so look for Winding Down the Year, the Sequel, tomorrow. Same place.

Making Up For Lost Time

Cutting right to the chase with lots of news.

From 12/23/08 Publishers Lunch:

Borders has gotten an extension of another month on repayment of their loan to Pershing Square ($42.5 mill). PL says "The nearly worthless stock has still managed to decline another 20 percent in early trading today, though Barnes & Noble has suffered weak trading the past two days as well."

ScrollMotion's interface for iPhone books has made arrangements with a variety of publishers. Random House is in on this deal and is releasing a dozen books on iPhone. PL notes a Wired report that Twilight will be among the books making the leap.

The technology, called "Iceberg" allows Apple to get in on the business and get a percentage of sales. And "ScrollMotion says it envisions a more organized app store and iPhone/iPod interface in the future where titles could eventually be sorted and grouped creating a virtual library of all your books."

The price sounds steep, though, when compared with e-books. Between $12 and $28, found PL - 30-40% more than the respective Kindle edition of the same title. Twilight will be $10.99 for the iPhone book, versus $6.04 for the Kindle copy.

Publisher's Weekly December 15, 2008 edition was chock full of news, reports, reviews and info, too.

For those of you who remember Francis "Baby" from Dirty Dancing (and who doesn't? - send good thoughts out to Patrick Swayze who's fighting the good fight against his cancer), the PW Pick of the Week is a biography of Frances Perkins, FDR's secretary of labor and the first woman in the cabinet. Kirstin Downey's Doubleday/Talese book debuts on March 3, 2009, for the history buffs out there.

The Forward column in the issue debates the pros and cons and marketing value of author websites. While no one has yet been able to get proof-positive that a good website = good sales, most folk agree that if you haven't got one, you're not helping yourself. PW reports that Carol Fitzgerald, founder and president of Book Report Network feels "having a Web presence gives writers a chance to extend the conversation with their readers." She's "less concerned about authors having a message board or book trailer than with providing a go-to place for fans." PW passes on her warning not to overdo the Flash, though. She also thinks that a blog is a easy way to keep your site fresh. This sentiment is seconded by author Chris Bohjalian, who enjoys blogging and finds it "the easy part of maintaining an online presence." He recycles content from his weekly newspaper column, a concept also espoused by Penny Sansevieri, marketing guru (see past posts). He says, "It all goes back to that notion that an author is no longer a disembodied face on the back of a book jacket."

But the most succinct statement (IMHO) is that of Steve Bennett, author of 50 titles and president of Author Bytes, which builds author Web sites. "A Web site is your locus in space. It's not that people can't get basic author information on Amazon. But they're looking for extras. The Web has changed the way we learn about products and services; it's hard to imagine succeeding without it."

Dean Koontz, horror master and perennial visitor to the NY Times bestseller list, has his latest title at #8 on the PW Hardcover Bestseller Fiction list. He's spotlighted and has the following to say about that question all writers get: "Story ideas have come to me from lines in songs, from a scrap of overhead conversation, from just about everywhere. And sometimes a story pops into my head and I have no idea what the source of it was." The title, Your Heart Belongs to Me had an 800,000 copy first printing. Guess Dean's doing something right!

When fans of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series heard about True Blood they were all a twitter. But it appears the series is making new fans for the authors' quirky heroine. Backlist sales were so great that Ace created a 7-volume boxed set. 130,000 copies have shipped so far. Ace Associate Director of publicity, Jodi Rossoff crowed, "We knew it would do well, but it has surpassed our expectations."

And speaking of vampires, did you think that maybe the vampire romance genre was cooling off, what with dragons, gargoyles, demons and gods on the scene? Apparently not. The 12/15/08 Mass Market Bestseller list has 3 vampire titles on the list.

Gotta love it, too, when our President-Elect has two titles on the Trade Paperback Bestseller list! (Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope are at 2 and 3, respectively).

Another story on the technological has me stumped, except for the openers. The title of the article, What the Hell is XML, sums it up for me, but the intro makes a strong case for e-books, e-marketing and the changes being wrought to the traditional publishing models. Article's author Mike Shatzkin (founder of the Idea Logical Company and one of the creators of the StartWithXML project) says bluntly: "Print book review media and subscription books clubs are fewer in number and, most critically, bricks-and-mortar retail shelf space for books is being reduced." He highlights the proliferation of on-line review sites. As we've all seen, too, print review in even the biggest newspapers is dwindling, with some abandoning their entire book review sections. Further, says Shatzkin, "While sales of books through bricks-and-mortar locations are stagnant, sales through online channels....are growing. A goodly portion of those sales are driven by 'referrals' from specialized Web sites." At the heart of the changes already being experienced, "The shift from traditional to digital marketing is already changing publishers' mindset when books are acquired ("Does this author have a Web site?")."

So it isn't just the book format that we're seeing veer into digital, but the marketing of the titles as well. I'm not the first to say it, but I keep hammering at the bottom line: Digital is going to be where it's at. Be there or be square! Start compiling those lists of on-line review sites. Can't get a Times review? How about SmartBitches Love Trashy Books, Coffee Time Romance and dozens more.

Lots of great reviews in the issue, too (where, or where am I going to put all these books?!).

Bestseller Susan Elizabeth Phillips' latest, What I Did for Love (Morrow/Feb. 09) garnered a starred review for a "over-the-top, hot-under-the-sheets romcom". "In this massively entertaining romp, redemption is always possible, and even a fake Hollywood couple trapped in a pretend marraige might find true love."

Edgar-award winning mystery author Alex Berenson's forthcoming "The Silent Man" (Putnam/Feb. 09) features CIA agent John Wells and his fellow agent and fiancee, Jenny Exley. PW says about the bad guys in the "well-plotted and thoughtful" thriller: "These extremely clever villains...aren't mad dog idiots but credible characters..." In summation, "Fast and furious when it needs to be, this is a welcome addition to an excellent series."

Of interest to those self-published authors, or if you are thinking about taking that route, take note that in addition to The Celestine Prophecies and Eragon, both originally self-published, a new St. Martin's/Dunne Feb. 09 release, "Hater", by David Moody, was originaly self-published, as well. Termed a "nail-biter", it has gone that extra mile and has been optioned by Guillermo Del Toro for film. Success stories are out there, and since a self-pubbed title that sells 5,000 or more copies (by dint of the author's hard work), generally gets attention from established publishers looking to get a product that's already been test-driven, it is a viable option for an author who may not fit "the box" of many publishers. Lulu and iUniverse/Authors House and X-Libris are the big three when it comes to self-pubbing. Check the sites for answers to your questions on the hows and how-muches of self-pubbing.

Debut author Meredith Cole's St. Martin's/Minotaur mystery "Posed for Murder" won the Minotaur and Malice Domestic's Best First Traditional Mystery competition has an amateur sleuth and a NY setting. PW found it "entertaining".

Romance author Sharon Ashwood has switched genres with her latest, an urban fantasy romance (first in a series). "Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten" (Signet Eclipse/ Feb. 09) is a "well-paced tale of supernaturally infested Fairview, U.S.A." features witch Holly Carver, handsome police detective Conall Macmillan and her "undead business partner" (and, apparently more!) vampire Alessandro Caravelli. "Strong world-building and romantic elements benefit from deft tuoches of humor; readers will look forward to the sequel." Nice start, Sharon!

On the non-fiction side of things, there are a couple of titles that may help those writing both contemporary military characters: Soft Spots: A Marine's Memoir of Comat and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" by Marine sergeant Clint Van Winkle (St. Martin's/March 09, and FBI agents: Bullets, Bombs, and Fast Talk: Twenty-five Years of FBI War Stories" (James Botting, Potomac, Feb. 09). Memoirs are a great way to gather emotional and immediate details that speak to a reader where dry facts don't, and to give authors insight into characters who are living lives you never have!

The internet and all the fun folks are having in the virtual universe has a downside too. While the legal universal is still playing catch-up, the case of a forged MySpace page is being litigated (claims of emotional distress and defamation). Another media case in the courts concerns the use of "fleeting expletives" and other languaged deemed sexual or obscene in televised media. So far the Supreme Court holds the First Amendment supreme, and given the likelihood that President Obama will appoint liberal judges to any vacancies, it seems destined to remain so for the time being. But keep tabs on rules, regulations and, soon, laws, promulgated regarding obscenity (always a flashpoint for critics) on the web and other new media. Knowing what you can and cannot say, what might get you in hot water, and understanding basic defamation/libel strictures is a wise choice for anyone posting commentary on the web, like blogs, journals, podcasts, and statements on other social sites. When it doubt, zip that virtual lip!

December 22, 2008

Well, looking back I see that I have been remiss for 2, count 'em, 2 weeks. Due to all manner of home appliance and system SNAFUs (car breakdown, plumbing nightmare, oil burner disaster which is on-going forcing us to keep the heat at the lowest possible setting of 59 degrees which, in NYC, means things are getting pretty nippy in the house).

But there's good news to be spread! So here I am, frostbite and all.

I spotted on Galleycat that, apparently, Nielscan's book numbers for fantasy and romance are UP the week of December 15, contrary to just about every other aspect of publishing (although I understand that children's books are still selling...). Galleycat quotes Juno Books editor, Paula Guran who says "fantasy mass market paperbacks sold 102,660 units last week..." compared with "62,781 units" in 2007. Romance, she says "always the industry leader in mass market paperback, sold 202,667 for the week in 2007..." and this year "310,689".

Although they report further that overall for the year, fantasy sales are down, but they report that "overall romance sales are up 83 percent, with mass market paperbacks alone experiencing a 50 percent boost".

Wha-hoo! Some good news. And if you aren't keeping up with all the news that GalleyCat has to offer, check out their site (see link at right).

There are still lots of deals being announced, especially in the romance genre, which bolsters the belief that they are strong sellers. Kelly Mortimer at Mortimer Literary is responsible for numerous romance sales in recent weeks. Check out this agency. Could they be for you?

Charlaine Harris is also hot with sales of both mystery titles and anthologies via JABerwocky Literary.

The likewise popular genre of paranormal continues in YA with a recent mother/daughter Cast sale of three additional titles in their House of Night series.

Simon & Shuster reported (Publishers Lunch; Publisher's Weekly) on their end of year with similar news to their NY brethren in "a challenging year". As with Random House, however, S&S has indicated they will "nearly quadruple eBook salse this year". And they'll be digitizing another 5,000 titles. Additionally they are relaunching their website in January, so check it out for upgrades.

Despite an on-going debate among Romance Writers of America members over the legitimacy of e-published titles, S&S' latest news seems to support my contention that, as far as the e-book is concerned, authors better get on this train or be left in the station! When the traditional NY houses embrace the format, you know it's on its way.

Exciting news for literary and film fans. PL reports that Baz Luhrmann has optioned The Great Gatsby. That's a big WOW as far as I'm concerned. The Aussie-born director of the fantastical and lush Moulin Rouge, as well as the romantic epic, Australia starring (sigh) Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, cannot help but do justice to the story of ill-fated love, money, beauty and the picturesque Gold Coast of Long Island. Now, who will he cast? Who can possibly outdo the perfection of Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby? And what about Daisy?

Another book to film story is that of Robert Harris' The Ghost. The contemporary international thriller by the author of Fatherland and Enigma, the latter of which was also turned into film, will be the next project of Roman Polanski. Say what you will about old Roman, but the guy sure has a way with film.

In the gossip news (sort of), Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari, facing a deadline to repay $800 million in debt, are feuding.

Publisher Cumberland House is folding and Sourcebooks is "taking over the rights to almost a hundred titles". Cumberland founder Ron Pitkin is "seeking publishers to take on rights to 400 previously published titles not included in the Sourcebooks deal". Cumberland specialized in non-fiction titles, especially history and quirky subjects.

Several posts ago I mentioned the Tools of Change conference and provided a link to the registration site. Booksquare blogger Kassia Krozser has also made the argument that this conference is a must. She says "I've long encouraged publishing folk to setp outside of traditional book conferenes to get a sense of where technology - particularly social media - is heading." Check out Booksquare (see the link) for complete details on the panels for this conference, which include Speaking the Same Language: Universal Technology Standards in Publishing and Bookselling; Where Do You Go with 40,000 Readers? A Study in Online Community Building; New Reading Habits, New Distribution Models; and Smart Women Read eBooks.

And on a wonderful note for all fans of words, President Barak Obama has selected Elizabeth Alexander to write and read a poem at his inauguration. Find out more about this fellow word lover at her site (see at right).

For tonight, that's all folks, as I head home to watch over my laboring oil burner until our 2nd visit from the folks I hope will fix it (this time) so we can dispense with the thermal underwear while inside!

I leave you with a poem of my very own.

Write happy,
Write true.
It's the best thing there is,
And it's all you can do.

December 9, 2008

Welcome back to the doings of the publishing world. Lots to cover. Let's jump in:

Some good news to report: According to PW, figures in from Nielsen's BookScan report a 6% rise in unit sales over Thanksgiving week. Largest ground was gained in children's fiction, led by (of course), Stephanie Meyer. (Who coincidentally holds 4 of the 5 top spots on Kindle's Bestseller list, beaten from #1 by Patricia Cornwell's latest, Scarpetta.)

Random House is re-structuring. The three groups will be overseen by Gina Centrello (Pres., Random House Publishing Group), Sonny Mehta (president, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) and Jenny Frost (president, Crown Publishing Group). Spokesperson Carol Schneider indicated the upcoming consolidation could mean "a reduction in title count". The "imprints of Bantam Dell and Doubleday were dispersed based on affinities with the other groups,...made the most sense to move the mass market operations of Bantam and Dell into Random House which had its own mass market division in Ballantine."

On the issue of rights - Universal Pictures, (Daily Variety, 11/21/08) has made an overall deal with the Ludlum estate, giving the studio exclusive rights to the Jason Bourne character and first look at other Ludlum novels (some of which have already been made into movies during the last several decades, including The Holcroft Covenant, The Osterman Weekend and The Rhineman Exchange). Too bad Bob's not around to reap the benefits. But then again, his books keep coming out - he's the brand that keeps on ticking.

The PW December 1, 2008 issue included the results of a national survey of who is reading and what. At first glance the info is intriguing, although I personally wonder about the comprehensiveness of the numbers, gathered by RR Bowker, LLC, because they used a "national online survey". Call me crazy, but I think there are still lots and lots of readers and consumers out there who aren't on-line. My Mother, for one. So while the numbers are fun to play with, they might not be as reflective of the whole as they might have been.

But here's some details:

In the 5 age groups (Teens 13-17; Generation Y (18-28), Gen X (29-40), Boomers (41-59) and Matures (60 +) (and let me say, couldn't we have called them the Greatest Generation? or the Silver Surfers or something? "Matures" has a rather geriatic ring to it). But I digress.

The numbers varied widely between mass market and hardcover sales, for example. And while every group except Gen X ranked the mystery/detective genre #1 (Gen X had romance as its #1 genre.), I personally wondered if all those romantic suspense titles fell under romance or, mystery? Given the generally accepted RWA finding that romance is always #1 in mass market sales, that is.

Curiously, the "non-print" category is the digital downloads of audiobooks, e-books and other "nonprint items", remained failry steady at 2%, 4%, 3%, 3% and 2%, respectively. I'm predicting this will be a far more significant portion of the pie chart by next year.

Something the survey did show was that purchases were driven by the desire to "add to a collection" and because of interest in the topic or main character, but also because of the author. And PW adds "Such factors as cover art, author readings, and book reviews were well down the list."

So perhaps this is an additional impetus to work on author name recognition and branding as opposed to trying to garner as many five coffee cup, champagne glasses, skull & crossbones or whatever in reviews.

Another telling detail: Except for the whopping Teens category who buy 46.3% of their books in chains, (Gen X was 29.9% chains v. 25.7% online - in my "book" too close to call), every other group favors on-line buying. Which additionally points to the importance of a web presence. Be there or be square!

Beyond this survey, the glum news that all the big chains had dismal third quarters and PW predicts that this could lead to a year-long decline.

More news on Random House is that they will add an additional 6,000 titles to the already 9,000 available in digital format. And for the "first time, make its entire catalogue of both new and existing titles available in e-Pub format.". Like I keep saying, folks, e-publishing is going to explode!!!!!

There was a nice article on the long-lived genre bookstore, Murder By The Book (Portland, Oregon), which prompts me to suggest that if you are a genre author, gathering intel on genre bookstores that cater to your audience (romance or mystery, for example), might provide you with an opportunity to reach out to them (live and in-person, or in another way) to help them sell your titles. A fellow RWA member, author Megan Frampton (A Singular Lady, Signet Regency) once sent saltwater taffy to a distant bookstore where her title was selling (as the confection figured in her novel). It was a great way to say thanks, and keep this author in their minds. Never forget - Little things mean a lot!

Now here's hoping I can get back later on this PM to restore the huge chunk I just lost that included lots of reviews of upcoming 2009 titles.

Til then, read as if your brain depended on it!