The Anti-Amazon Campaign Jumps The Shark

The anti-Amazon stories seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment. Salon posted an article on Sunday written by Alexander Zaitchik called Amazon’s $1 million secret which contained the sensational allegation that Amazon donates $1 million to various literary and non-profit groups.

A more complete list of beneficiaries is here, but it includes the Brooklyn Book Festival and PEN; journals like The Los Angeles Review of Books, One Story, and Poets & Writers; 826 Seattle (a tutoring program aimed at kids) and Girls Write Now (a mentoring program for girls); as well as various other associations such as Lambda Literary (supports LGBT literature), Words Without Borders (international literature), and Voice of Witness (human rights).

Wait. Hold on one second. This sounds like a good thing! Even the Salon piece says:

At a time when independent publishing is struggling to survive, in part due to the influence of Amazon, recipients say that these grants offer crucial — if ironic — life support. Sometimes the grants pad out thin margins of survival, and make it possible for worthy programs to maintain their tiny staffs. And there’s no question the grants support legitimately important work: Literature in translation, international poetry, smart criticism, youth literacy efforts.

So far, so good, right? I mean, they used the word “ironic” in there, which makes me think that some bad stuff is coming, but giving all this money to good causes can only be a positive thing, right? Wrong, according to Alexander Zaitchik:

Jodi Picoult and the Myth of the Segregated Marketplace

Jodi Picoult made headlines last week for her views on self-publishing, expressed in an interview with the Daily Beast (from Page 2):

What advice would you give to an aspiring author?

Take a workshop course. You need to learn to give and get criticism and to write on demand. And DO NOT SELF PUBLISH.

Unfortunately, Jodi Picoult wasn’t pressed by the interviewer and didn’t elaborate (it would have been amusing if she had done so IN ALL CAPS).

The (outdated) blanket warning to avoid self-publishing generated a lot of reaction in the comments of that piece and anywhere else it was reprinted. I won’t rehash all that, only to note that, by contrast, Ms. Picoult thinks it’s a fine idea to sign with an agent who has no clients and zero experience.

Jodi Picoult got an opportunity to explain her position in a little more detail to the Huffington Post the following day.

My current advice is to not self-publish. It’s still too hard for people to separate the wheat from the chaff, and what you miss out on is the marketability that is afforded to you by a brick and mortar publisher. There’s a lot of crap out there, and one day we may find a way to segregate well written self published fiction from that stuff which anyone can throw on Amazon, but I just don’t think we’re there yet. Let me put it to you this way. The anomalies of self published fiction, the Amanda Hockings of this world – what did they do with their next book? Do they self publish it? No – they make sure they get a publisher.

March Sales Report: A Bumper Month & Some Old-School Piracy

It’s that time of the month again when the slate is wiped clean and Amazon makes us sing for our supper anew.

All those beautiful sales vanish from our reports, replaced by a taunting brown streak – which only disappears whenever things get moving again.

Checking those sales numbers can be addictive, particularly when you are on a run. Less so when Amazon’s customers appear to be boycotting your books.

But enough of that, March was great. A bumper month even. Before I go any further, I have the usual alternative reading for those averse to sales talk and number wrangling.

British science fiction author Ian Watson has an extended essay on his website detailing his experiences of working with one of the most fascinating creative minds of the 20th century: the brilliant, mercurial Stanley Kubrick. Set aside half-an-hour, it’s a real treat.

On to the numbers. Here are the last six months:

How I Failed My Way Into A Book Deal – Guest Post by Matt Ellis

Photo by Peter Pawinski

I first met author and editor Matt Ellis last summer through Twitter.

We exchanged a few emails, after which Matt posted a thoughtful review of one of my short stories, If You Go Into The Woods.

In that some post, Matt aired some of his concerns about self-publishing, not least how the promotional burden can chew up precious writing time, and we corresponded about that for a while.

Several months later, after an underwhelming experience with self-publishing, Matt made a radical decision about one of his books. Here’s Matt to explain what he did, and why he did it:

The Joys of Unpublishing, or, How I Failed My Way Into A Book Deal

This winter, my life’s dream was realized: my novel was accepted for print publication. The road to the book deal was long, and fraught with uncertainty and second-guessing. Like many authors, I had initially put my work out there as a digital original when I met with rejection from traditional publishing houses. As an indie author, I beat myself up about the fact that I wasn’t marketing my own books effectively. In its six months on Kindle, my novel Lumpen: A Novel of Prague, sold just eight copies. I tried to prime the pump with a book giveaway, but nobody signed up; I built a following on Twitter and blogged with equally dismal results. I researched keywords and comparison titles, but this all proved ineffective – in other words, I was a failed indie author.

Selling Ebooks Direct: How To Set Up A Simple E-Bookstore

Selling e-books direct to your readers has just got a little easier, thanks to a new company called Gumroad.

I heard about them through indie author Sarah Billington on Friday, had my store up and running on Saturday, and fully pimped out by Sunday. (Cost = Zero!)

But before we get to that, should you open your own e-bookstore?

Advantages of Selling Direct

The first obvious advantage is higher royalty rates. You can earn a lot more than 70% if you sell direct. I’m making $3.49 on my $3.99 titles (as opposed to $2.70 from Amazon) and I’m getting nearly double the royalties on 99c titles.

On top of that, I can now directly serve readers who face higher charges internationally (such as readers in Amazon’s surcharge zone) and those readers who can’t buy from the major retailers (e.g. Barnes & Noble only serve the US, and Amazon don’t serve much of Asia, most of the Middle East, and nearly all of Africa).

St. Patrick’s Day Blowout: Results

If you were on Twitter over the weekend, you probably heard something about the St. Patrick’s Day Blowout Sale that I ran here on the blog.

A few of you asked how it was all put together, and plenty are keen to hear the results, so I thought I’d run through it all for you today.

As you will see below, it was very successful. So successful in fact, that it might spawn a few imitators.

For those thinking along those lines, a caution: I would imagine there would be diminishing returns on any promo like this, and I might suggest adding your own twist to get anything like the same results. On top of that, it’s a hell of a lot of work.

The Idea

I had been toying with a limited-time 99c sale for some time. I had never sold full-length work at that price, but had success with a $2.99 sale in the past (I usually price at $3.99 or $4.99).

There has been a lot of talk about the 99c price-point before, and I’m not going to add to that now (my views on pricing are here), only to say that I think it’s generally accepted that 99c is not as effective as it was. Indeed, there is some evidence to suggest that many readers avoid 99c novels as they feel the price is an indication of the (lack of) quality. Fair or not, this attitude exists.

However, I think with a limited-time sale (when clearly marketed as such, and indicated in the blurb on Amazon), you get all of the benefits of 99c, and none of the negatives (bar the reduced royalty rate).

Can You Self-Publish Your Way to a Big Deal? Guest Post from Lindsay Buroker

Self-published author Lindsay Buroker was approached recently by 47North, Amazon’s SF/F/H imprint. Today Lindsay is here to explain how you can best position yourself to attract an offer. And, despite what you may think, it’s not all about sales.

Self-publishing offers a lot of advantages over the traditional path: freedom to write whatever you choose and price however you like; real-time sales figures; direct connection with readers; complete creative control over things like covers; and, of course, the famous 70% royalty rate (and more again if you sell direct).

Despite all these advantages, many self-publishers are keen to leverage their success into a publishing deal.

For some, it’s a nice advance, access to bookstores, and the potential increased marketability of subsidiary rights like foreign, movie, and audio rights. For others, it’s either to lighten the all-round workload, pursue a “hybrid” strategy, or the attraction of being backed by the incredible marketing power of a company like Amazon.

Lindsay’s post isn’t just good advice for those hoping to attract offers, it’s good advice for any self-publisher, no matter what their goals are. Without further ado, here’s Lindsay: