My blog series on the most common problems I found in the self-published, non-fiction books I recently judged for The Next Generation Indie Book Awards continues. In part one, I discussed books written by authors who are not qualified experts in their chosen subjects. In part two, I wrote about authors who come across as dabblers or flakes in their author bio. Today, it’s about memoirs masquerading as reference books.
As with all the posts in this series, since I’m not allowed to reveal identifying details of the actual books I reviewed, the book names and specific contents discussed herein have been fabricated. While they serve to illustrate the types of problems I saw, they are not meant to refer to any real books.
Reference Books Are Supposed To Inform AND Educate
The jacket blurb describes Bicycling To Victory as a book filled with insight and advice for the competitive cyclist, and since it was written by a world-champion cyclist, there’s no reason to doubt that jacket copy. But in the book, the author merely relates his experiences on the competitive cycling circuit. No explicit advice is given, and at no point does the author finish up his retelling of a given incident by pointing out what he learned from the experience.
The cyclist has written a memoir, not a reference or educational book. His fans and fans of the sport may find the book interesting, but since it’s classified and described as a reference book, anyone who buys it is probably expecting to gain some instruction and practical tips. Those buyers will be disappointed.
Your Experiences May Not Be As Fascinating To Others As They Are To You
A body shop owner writes Bringing Back Baby, a book about his experiences in restoring numerous classic and rare cars over the many years of his career. Each chapter covers a different car, first describing how the car was obtained and what was wrong with it, then explaining what the body shop owner did to fix it. For example, one of the cars was missing its original headlamps so the body shop owner had to scour the internet and junk yards in four states in order to find the necessary replacement parts.
However, the book doesn’t offer any kind of detailed, step-by-step directions for working on the cars, and there’s nothing unique or special about the various strategies employed by the author in locating missing parts and necessary supplies. Finally, since each chapter is about a different car, and each car requires a specific repair that doesn’t relate to any of the other cars in the book, the book can’t even stand as an overview of classic car restoration.
This is another memoir, just like the cyclist’s book, but it’s a memoir that isn’t likely to interest anyone but the author and the owners of the cars he restored. I saw several examples of memoirs that had been wrongly classified by their authors as nonfiction, reference books, the contents of which would only be of interest to people with a personal connection to the subject matter.
If Your Book Is A Memoir/Self-Help Hybrid, Don’t Leave Out The Self-Help Part
The memoir/self-help hybrid is an increasingly common type of nonfiction book, but again, your accomplishments and experiences in overcoming various challenges don’t automatically make a book based on those things a self-help book.
Reading With My Mind Shut relates the inspiring story of a man who overcame dyslexia and Down Syndrome to complete his education and eventually become a special education teacher. The book names the facilities and programs which helped him along the way, and describes his personal experiences with those facilities and programs. However, while the book may be a terrific memoir, it’s useless as a self-help book because it doesn’t truly offer advice or instruction to the reader. It’s only a self-help book to the extent the reader is willing and able to utilize the exact same facilities and programs in the exact same ways as the author.
In Dance To The Tune That’s Playing, the author provides a series of anecdotes drawn from her experiences as a social worker serving the needs of battered women. The jacket copy suggests the book as a self-help manual for battered women, their friends and family. Each anecdote follows the same pattern of building trust, identifying the client’s specific needs or fears, and serving those specific needs or fears. But because each client’s circumstances are different and the author’s methods for building their trust and serving them are different in each case, no general conclusions can be drawn by the reader. The author hasn’t presented her anecdotes in a framework of methodology or instruction, nor concluded each story with an instructional passage explaining how readers can extrapolate from the story to address their own issues. So while the anecdotes may be interesting or even comforting to the target audience, they aren’t “helpful” in the self-help sense.
Coming Up Next Time: Invented Ideologies And Lexica
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Nobody Wants To Take Advice From A Dabbler Or A Flake
My blog series on the most common problems I found in the self-published, non-fiction books I recently judged for The Next Generation Indie Book Awards continues. In part one, I discussed books written by authors who are not qualified experts in their chosen subjects. This time, I take on the dabbler: the author who comes across as a jack of all trades, but master of none.
Nobody wants to take advice from a dabbler, but judging by many of the supplied biographies on their book jackets, plenty of self-published, non-fiction authors seem to be totally unaware of this. They seem to think that if their qualifications in the subject matter of their book are light or spotty, their unrelated experiences and accomplishments will establish some level of general authority for them in readers' minds. This is not true.
Every non-fiction author has hobbies or interests outside of the subject matter of his book, but the only hobbies and interests his readers need to know about are those which help to establish his credibility as a subject area expert. It’s typical for non-fiction author bios in mainstream books to include some mention of the author’s general area or country of residence, and maybe a line or two about marital and family status, but that’s about it as far as personal details go.
Given that the person who buys your non-fiction book is, in a sense, 'hiring' you to educate them on some subject, your author bio is like a job application. Don't mention anything in your author bio that you wouldn't list among your qualifications in a job interview. While you may very well be "an eco-conscious lover of life, dreamer of dreams, and chaser of rainbows,” such a statement will not instill confidence in a potential employer, nor anyone perusing the jacket of your non-fiction book.
Just as in a job application, relevance matters. Nobody wants to buy a book on estate planning from an author who describes himself as a “Yoga instructor, 4th Degree Black Belt, Photographer and Community Theater Director”. Such a bio just makes the reader wonder why the author didn't write a book on yoga, martial arts, photography, or running a community theater, since those are his stated areas of expertise. If you have no experience, education or training to speak of with respect to the subject of your book, you’re not qualified to write that book.
Along those same lines…enough already with all the authors claiming to be a “Life Coach” when they can’t list any educational or career credentials justifying that title. While Life Coaching is a genuine career (just ask Tony Robbins), the title has become a trendy, umbrella term that’s frequently appropriated by people for whom a more accurate title would be “Unemployed Guy Who Thinks He’s Good At Helping His Friends Solve Their Problems”.
The fact that you helped your best friend start up her small business and provided moral support during her divorce does not make you a Life Coach, nor does the fact that all your salon clients bring their job, relationship and family problems to you because you give such great advice. A legitimate Life Coach is engaged in Life Coaching as his or her primary occupation, and typically has some kind of certification, or a degree—often an advanced degree—in a subject related to business, counseling or education. A legitimate Life Coach can usually introduce herself as the founder of, or a partner in, a thriving practice with a lengthy list of satisfied clients.
If you genuinely feel you’re in a position to advise others on how to be more organized, self-confident, driven, assertive, etc., but can’t offer degrees or a longstanding practice to back it up, then zero in on the training or career experience you feel justifies the title of Life Coach and spell that out in your author bio instead of just granting yourself the title.
Coming up next time: memoirs and reference books are entirely different things.
Nobody wants to take advice from a dabbler, but judging by many of the supplied biographies on their book jackets, plenty of self-published, non-fiction authors seem to be totally unaware of this. They seem to think that if their qualifications in the subject matter of their book are light or spotty, their unrelated experiences and accomplishments will establish some level of general authority for them in readers' minds. This is not true.
Every non-fiction author has hobbies or interests outside of the subject matter of his book, but the only hobbies and interests his readers need to know about are those which help to establish his credibility as a subject area expert. It’s typical for non-fiction author bios in mainstream books to include some mention of the author’s general area or country of residence, and maybe a line or two about marital and family status, but that’s about it as far as personal details go.
Given that the person who buys your non-fiction book is, in a sense, 'hiring' you to educate them on some subject, your author bio is like a job application. Don't mention anything in your author bio that you wouldn't list among your qualifications in a job interview. While you may very well be "an eco-conscious lover of life, dreamer of dreams, and chaser of rainbows,” such a statement will not instill confidence in a potential employer, nor anyone perusing the jacket of your non-fiction book.
Just as in a job application, relevance matters. Nobody wants to buy a book on estate planning from an author who describes himself as a “Yoga instructor, 4th Degree Black Belt, Photographer and Community Theater Director”. Such a bio just makes the reader wonder why the author didn't write a book on yoga, martial arts, photography, or running a community theater, since those are his stated areas of expertise. If you have no experience, education or training to speak of with respect to the subject of your book, you’re not qualified to write that book.
Similarly, the longer your list of disparate professional titles, the less credibility you have in the minds of readers. The multi-gifted likes of a Leonardo DaVinci or Benjamin Franklin come along once in a generation or less, and anyone else laying claim to a half-dozen, unrelated professional titles is more than likely just padding her resume. Either that, or she's someone who's quit (or been fired from) every job she's ever had because she can't fully commit to any profession. Either way, it doesn't look good.
Invented, self-assigned titles are also a bad idea. Stating that you’re a “Spiritual Color Consultant / Themed Self-Actualization Life Coach” doesn’t make you seem important, accomplished or authoritative to the reader; it just makes you seem like a self-aggrandizing flake who has no legitimate educational or work experience.Along those same lines…enough already with all the authors claiming to be a “Life Coach” when they can’t list any educational or career credentials justifying that title. While Life Coaching is a genuine career (just ask Tony Robbins), the title has become a trendy, umbrella term that’s frequently appropriated by people for whom a more accurate title would be “Unemployed Guy Who Thinks He’s Good At Helping His Friends Solve Their Problems”.
The fact that you helped your best friend start up her small business and provided moral support during her divorce does not make you a Life Coach, nor does the fact that all your salon clients bring their job, relationship and family problems to you because you give such great advice. A legitimate Life Coach is engaged in Life Coaching as his or her primary occupation, and typically has some kind of certification, or a degree—often an advanced degree—in a subject related to business, counseling or education. A legitimate Life Coach can usually introduce herself as the founder of, or a partner in, a thriving practice with a lengthy list of satisfied clients.
If you genuinely feel you’re in a position to advise others on how to be more organized, self-confident, driven, assertive, etc., but can’t offer degrees or a longstanding practice to back it up, then zero in on the training or career experience you feel justifies the title of Life Coach and spell that out in your author bio instead of just granting yourself the title.
Coming up next time: memoirs and reference books are entirely different things.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Hubris, Not Bad Writing Or Design, Sinks Most Self-Published Nonfiction - Part 1
I recently completed a stint of judging nonfiction, indie books for The Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Popular lore holds that most self-published books are of poor quality, both in terms of layout/design and writing, but that was not my experience with these books.
Most of the books had very attractive and professional-looking covers, and many of them had excellent illustrations and interior layout details (i.e., sidebars, recurring graphic elements) as well. While a quarter of the books could’ve done with a thorough edit to ‘trim the fat’, none of the books were so flawed in terms of mechanics as to make them difficult, or even just unpleasant, to read—and I’m somewhat of a stickler for spelling and grammar.
Nevertheless, fewer than half of the books in my allotment seemed worthy of publication and sale to the public, and some clear patterns emerged among those books. In this series of blog posts, I’ll discuss my findings.
Because I am not allowed to disclose the titles of the books I judged, nor the specific category(ies), I’ve changed identifying details of the books in the following examples. (All book titles given below are fabricated, and are not meant to reference any real books)
Experience Doesn’t Always Equal Expertise
A tax attorney who’s struggled with her weight for years finds she’s somehow managed to lose fifteen pounds in one month. On reflection she realizes she’s been eating a lot of hazelnuts lately. Her internet research shows nuts are often encouraged as part of a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, and she finds some studies that report hazelnuts have antioxidant properties. BOOM! The Hazelnut Crash Diet book is born.
A computer programmer’s YouTube parody of a celebrity is brought to the attention of the celebrity, who mentions it on a late-night talk show. The clip goes viral in a matter of hours. In the morning, the man learns what happened and finds he has several interview requests from the media…BOOM! How YouTube Can Make You Famous is born.
A caregiver in a nursing home notices the elderly in her care seem more responsive and alert when she plays music over the facility’s public address system. BOOM! Using Music To Beat Alzheimer’s Disease is born.
Most of the books had very attractive and professional-looking covers, and many of them had excellent illustrations and interior layout details (i.e., sidebars, recurring graphic elements) as well. While a quarter of the books could’ve done with a thorough edit to ‘trim the fat’, none of the books were so flawed in terms of mechanics as to make them difficult, or even just unpleasant, to read—and I’m somewhat of a stickler for spelling and grammar.
Nevertheless, fewer than half of the books in my allotment seemed worthy of publication and sale to the public, and some clear patterns emerged among those books. In this series of blog posts, I’ll discuss my findings.
Because I am not allowed to disclose the titles of the books I judged, nor the specific category(ies), I’ve changed identifying details of the books in the following examples. (All book titles given below are fabricated, and are not meant to reference any real books)
Experience Doesn’t Always Equal Expertise
A tax attorney who’s struggled with her weight for years finds she’s somehow managed to lose fifteen pounds in one month. On reflection she realizes she’s been eating a lot of hazelnuts lately. Her internet research shows nuts are often encouraged as part of a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, and she finds some studies that report hazelnuts have antioxidant properties. BOOM! The Hazelnut Crash Diet book is born.
A computer programmer’s YouTube parody of a celebrity is brought to the attention of the celebrity, who mentions it on a late-night talk show. The clip goes viral in a matter of hours. In the morning, the man learns what happened and finds he has several interview requests from the media…BOOM! How YouTube Can Make You Famous is born.
A caregiver in a nursing home notices the elderly in her care seem more responsive and alert when she plays music over the facility’s public address system. BOOM! Using Music To Beat Alzheimer’s Disease is born.
The tendency of so many authors to base an entire book or belief system on false correlations, or even mere coincidence, was astonishing to me, as was their complete lack of awareness that their ability to formulate a possible cause-and-effect relationship does not make that relationship valid, nor make them experts in either the cause or the effect.
There are many possible explanations for the first woman’s weight loss, but based on little more than intuition she’s concluded that hazelnuts were the key to her success. She’s not remotely qualified to design a safe and effective diet plan, yet here she is, promoting her hazelnut diet as a surefire, safe solution for anyone wishing to lose weight quickly.
If the YouTube guy had come up with a successful strategy to get the celebrity’s attention or the late-night talk show mention, that would be worthy of sharing with the world. In this case, he simply had an incredible stroke of luck that occurred entirely outside his control or even immediate awareness. Yet here he is, claiming he can show anyone how to recreate the same outcome.
The fact that the nursing home residents perked up when they heard music is no indication of music’s efficacy in staving off Alzheimer’s, and the caregiver’s only knowledge of Alzheimer’s comes from a continuing education class she once took and her observations of the elderly in her care. Yet here she is, claiming to have found a cure for a disease that whole armies of researchers and billions of dollars have yet to crack.
Books like the diet book and the Alzheimer’s book were particularly worrying to me because they can affect the health of others. Where very challenging ailments like Alzheimer’s are concerned, sufferers and those who care about them are often desperate enough to try anything that could possibly work. While exposing Alzheimer’s sufferers to music certainly won’t harm them, sufferers or caregivers might choose “music therapy” over other, better treatment options.
One of the books actually encouraged readers to use spoken mantras to treat a common physical ailment for which numerous safe, proven treatments already exist. Furthermore, the ailment was one of those things that's not usually serious, but can develop into something serious if it's not watched closely. By the time a caregiver employing the mantra method realizes the mantra isn't working, the ailment may have progressed to the point that aggressive and risky medical treatments are required. I was dumbfounded by the author's irresponsibility.
I understand there’s such a thing as alternative medicine, and I can also believe that laypeople and amateurs sometimes make discoveries that have evaded professionals and academics. However, I’m not going to take one person’s word for it that she's discovered a new avenue in healthcare or nutrition based on her personal experiences alone—especially when she has no significant background or training in the subject of her book. Background and training are the things that allow a person to tell the difference between a genuine result or discovery and a wrong conclusion.
There are very good reasons why doctors, lawyers, physical therapists, nutritionists, accountants, etc. are required to complete years of education and training before being licensed to practice. Judging by the lengthy disclaimers I saw at the front of several books, the authors knew this, yet still deemed themselves capable of going toe-to-toe with the professionals. The disclaimers variously advised readers that nothing in the book should be construed as professional advice, that the reader shouldn't rely on the information provided in the book when making medical, legal or financial decisions, and in one case, went so far as to say the reader shouldn't rely on the book's content as a reliable source of information on the subject matter of the book.
A book that needs a disclaimer like that is a book that never should've been written, and should definitely not be offered for sale to the public.
Coming up next time: nobody wants to take advice from a dabbler.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
1999 Called: It Wants Its Attitudes About Self-Publishing Back
By now, most any writer on Twitter has heard of #queryfail and the subsequent #agentfail. For those of you reading who have no idea what I'm talking about, #queryfail was a collection of Twitter posts made by literary agents in which they variously railed, joked, complained, and talked about failed queries from writers. Writers shot back with their own Twitter stream: #agentfail, in which they mostly railed and complained about how agents fail the authors who query them.
There have been many, many postmortem articles and blog posts on the matter, and when I come across them I'll generally leave a comment noting that indie authors aren't dependent on agents at all. Following one such comment, on a Guardian UK article, I got the following response:
Could we have a reality check here?
April forgot to mention that self-published and vanity published books don't sell, don't get distributed, don't get reviewed, and don't get recognition. The writer has to take on all sorts of admin and PR duties that should be left to the publisher. It's a waste of money you almost certainly don't have, and time that could be spend reading and writing.
And here's my reply:
1999 called; it wants its attitudes about self-publishing back.
My indie books DO sell.
My indie books are distributed by Amazon, the #1 bookseller in the world. I could also get them stocked by independent brick and mortar booksellers if I wanted to, and in fact have done so in the past, but I've found it's much harder to move those brick-and-mortar store copies than to simply keep selling online.
Anyway, IMO the brick-and-mortar chain bookstore in its current incarnation is an endangered species, and investing heavily in brick-and-mortar distribution is a waste of money for all but the biggest-selling mainstream books. To be clear, yes, I AM saying that it's a waste for MOST mainstream-published books, not just indie books. I blogged about it: Big Chain Bookstore Death Watch.
My books get reviewed on Amazon and elsewhere, and they get recognition in the form of personal recommendations, recommendations on Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, and mentions in publications as well known as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and The Huffington Post.
Today's indie author is a far cry from the "vanity" author of yesteryear. Today's indie author is an entrepreneur who realizes he's running a business and acts accordingly. It's actually not all that difficult nor expensive to promote yourself and your books in today's web-centric Western culture, but mainstream publishers still seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude, as if the web may yet prove to be a temporary fad.
It's no secret that the publishing industry is dragging its feet when it comes to new technology, and given that new technologies are the best ways to reach and meet readers, authors who have signed with mainstream publishers are actually at a disadvantage when it comes to fully leveraging all that the web and related technologies have to offer. Even if a given mainstream author is willing and able to leverage those technologies himself, he's hamstrung by his publisher, who controls not only his work but his image.
Come, Max. Join us here in 2009.
There have been many, many postmortem articles and blog posts on the matter, and when I come across them I'll generally leave a comment noting that indie authors aren't dependent on agents at all. Following one such comment, on a Guardian UK article, I got the following response:
Could we have a reality check here?
April forgot to mention that self-published and vanity published books don't sell, don't get distributed, don't get reviewed, and don't get recognition. The writer has to take on all sorts of admin and PR duties that should be left to the publisher. It's a waste of money you almost certainly don't have, and time that could be spend reading and writing.
And here's my reply:
1999 called; it wants its attitudes about self-publishing back.
My indie books DO sell.
My indie books are distributed by Amazon, the #1 bookseller in the world. I could also get them stocked by independent brick and mortar booksellers if I wanted to, and in fact have done so in the past, but I've found it's much harder to move those brick-and-mortar store copies than to simply keep selling online.
Anyway, IMO the brick-and-mortar chain bookstore in its current incarnation is an endangered species, and investing heavily in brick-and-mortar distribution is a waste of money for all but the biggest-selling mainstream books. To be clear, yes, I AM saying that it's a waste for MOST mainstream-published books, not just indie books. I blogged about it: Big Chain Bookstore Death Watch.
My books get reviewed on Amazon and elsewhere, and they get recognition in the form of personal recommendations, recommendations on Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, and mentions in publications as well known as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and The Huffington Post.
Today's indie author is a far cry from the "vanity" author of yesteryear. Today's indie author is an entrepreneur who realizes he's running a business and acts accordingly. It's actually not all that difficult nor expensive to promote yourself and your books in today's web-centric Western culture, but mainstream publishers still seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude, as if the web may yet prove to be a temporary fad.
It's no secret that the publishing industry is dragging its feet when it comes to new technology, and given that new technologies are the best ways to reach and meet readers, authors who have signed with mainstream publishers are actually at a disadvantage when it comes to fully leveraging all that the web and related technologies have to offer. Even if a given mainstream author is willing and able to leverage those technologies himself, he's hamstrung by his publisher, who controls not only his work but his image.
Come, Max. Join us here in 2009.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Why Google Book Search Is A GOOD Thing For Indies
Note: This article is a cross-posting from Publetariat.com.
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about Google Book Search lately. Mainstream publishers and authors are variously confused, angry or nervous about GBS, but for indie authors and small imprints, it’s all good.
What’s This All About, Then?
From Wikipedia:
Google Book Search is a tool from Google that searches the full text of books that Google scans, converts to text using optical character recognition, and stores in its digital database. The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2004. When relevant to a user's keyword search, up to three results from the Google Book Search index are displayed above search results in the Google Web Search service (google.com).
A user may also search just for books at the dedicated Google Book Search service. Clicking a result from Google Book Search opens an interface in which the user may view pages from the book as well as content-related advertisements and links to the publisher's website and booksellers. Through a variety of access limitations and security measures, some based on user-tracking, Google limits the number of viewable pages and attempts to prevent page printing and text copying of material under copyright.
GBS Offers Benefits To Authors And Publishers
Book search results served up by GBS include a cover image, table of contents, keywords from each chapter, excerpts from throughout the book, and where-to-buy links. GBS provides publishers and authors with a new avenue to help consumers find their books, read excerpts, and even buy those books.
In addition, authors and publishers who sign up to be a GBS Partner (required if you want to upload your own books) receive additional benefits. Partners can view reports containing detailed information about when and how their GBS books have been accessed, as well as how frequently GBS users click on the where-to-buy links for their books. GBS book pages also contain Google AdSense ads which have been targeted based on the content of the book currently being viewed, and GBS Partners receive a portion of the ad revenue Google earns for click-throughs on those ads.
So What’s The Problem?
Exposure plus maybe enough ad revenue to buy yourself a fancy coffee once in a while...what’s not to love? If you’re an indie author or small imprint, nothing. But the mainstream has four major beefs with GBS: Google didn’t ask their permission, GBS muddies the question of when a book goes out of print, GBS introduces some level of copyright risk, and publishers and authors have no control over how GBS presents their books to the public.
Google Decided It’s Better To Beg Forgiveness Than Ask Permission
When Google came up with the idea for GBS they realized it would only work if the majority of published books are part of the GBS database, because the more complete the database, the more useful and trustworthy it becomes. Rather than go to all the publishers of the world and ask if GBS could please scan each publisher’s books into their database, Google simply issued a public statement of their intent to do so. GBS also included functionality that allows authors and publishers themselves to upload books directly to the database.
Legal wrangling eventually resulted in a settlement agreement that allows authors and publishers to opt their books out of GBS, but the default setting for all books is opt-in: unless you specifically take action to opt out per the terms of the agreement, your books are fair game to be scanned or uploaded to the GBS database. Though the agreement was hard-won, most major publishers are not choosing to exercise the opt-out option, and that's making many mainstream authors very nervous.
This is a non-issue for indies, for two reasons. First, indie books are very low on GBS’ list of priorities where getting content for their database is concerned, and are therefore only likely to find their way into the GBS database if we upload them ourselves (effecting a post-facto ‘opt-in’). Secondly, if you don’t want your books in the database but find that someone else has scanned or uploaded them, GBS provides a simple means to have them removed. Since we retain all rights to our work, we don’t have to go along with a publisher’s decision to opt in or out of GBS.
When Does A Google Books Book Go Out Of Print?
Mainstream publishing contracts typically stipulate that when a publisher stops manufacturing or distributing a given book for sale, publication rights for that book revert to the author. The author is then free to re-publish the book themselves, or through a different publisher. Mainstream authors are worried about the possibility that a book in the GBS database could be construed as “in print” indefinitely, though there have yet to be any court cases to settle the matter.
Indies don’t have to worry about it, because we retain all publication rights to our work from day one. Even if the courts eventually find GBS books meet some legal definition of the term “in print”, thereby allowing publishers to retain publishing rights so long as the books are in the GBS database, it won’t matter to us because we are our own publishers.
Does GBS Pose New Copyright Risks?
Publishers and authors are also worried about the risks of copyright infringement introduced by allowing an outside party to store the entire text of their books in a database, and by allowing excerpts of those books to be displayed online. While GBS provides excerpts, cover images and bibliographic data for every book in its database, it does not provide the full text of any book to GBS users, nor does it provide any easy means to download or even print any of the content shown onscreen.
Given enough time, a motivated, technically skilled pirate could theoretically steal the excerpts and cover images for re-use in some illegal fashion, but the same is possible for any book on a public library shelf. If anything, public libraries and book lending among friends pose a greater piracy threat, since anyone in possession of the entire book can scan or copy its pages for illegal re-use.
There’s also the omnipresent threat posed to any online system: that hackers may find a way to get into the database and download entire files---in this case, books---for nefarious purposes. Possible, yes. Likely, no. And unless you’re a well-known or best-selling author, the risk that a hacker might choose to copy and illegally redistribute your book is very, very small. If you’re worried about GBS security and find your book becoming so popular that piracy is a legitimate concern, you can always just pull it out of the GBS database.
Presentation And Advertising
GBS serves up book search results in their own, fixed format, and also includes Google AdSense text ads targeted according to the content of the book being displayed on the right-hand side of the page. Authors and publishers have no control over the book display format or content, nor over the advertising display or content.
Those who want to micromanage their book’s image and exclude outside advertising are not pleased, but they don’t seem to realize that so long as their books are available for sale through any online retailer, matters of display and advertising are out of their hands anyway.
Any book available online can be found using a simple Google search, and the results page for any Google search includes targeted Google AdSense advertising links on the far right-hand side. Authors and publishers have no control over the ads, nor do they receive any portion of the revenue earned on those ads.
Furthermore, once the searcher clicks through on a link to Amazon, Borders, B&N or wherever else, the book they’re looking for will be displayed in that store’s standard format, over which authors and publishers have no control. Book listings in online stores almost always include advertising in the form of cross-sell links to other books in which the searcher may be interested---typically, competing books from other authors.
Another complaint in this area is the revenue split on advertising displayed on GBS book pages. Recall that Google splits GBS ad revenue with GBS Partners, and in the case of a mainstream publisher, the publisher will be the GBS Partner, not the author. To me, this seems a matter to be settled between mainstream authors and their publishers rather than a GBS issue.
Yet again, indies have no need for concern here. We can sign up to become GBS Partners and keep all of the ad revenue split for ourselves.
Still Not Sure Whether To Upload Your Books?
If you have concerns about the risks and possible ramifications of allowing your books to be listed on GBS, carefully review the GBS Program Policies and the settlement agreement with an attorney versed in matters of copyright and publishing law before making any decisions. You might also want to read this Authorweb piece on GBS.
One more thing - if you're self-publishing in the hopes of attracting a mainstream publisher, it's probably best to err on the side of caution and leave your books out of GBS since you can't predict how a future publisher with which you may have dealings will feel about GBS.
My Experience With GBS
I’ve had my novels, Adelaide Einstein and Snow Ball, listed on GBS since May of 2008. Joining the Partner program was very easy and GBS dovetails seamlessly with other Google services I already use like gmail, AdSense and the like.
From the time I uploaded the books it took about three months for them to show up in GBS searches, but the process is probably bit speedier now that the settlement agreement has again freed GBS to focus the bulk of their energies on scanning and uploading content.
My Partner reports show I’m getting a smattering of page views, but if viewers are subsequently buying my books, they’re not using the GBS where-to-buy links to do so. I’ve also yet to see any ad revenue from GBS. I suspect this meager traffic is due in large part to the fact that while GBS is widely known and discussed in author and publisher circles, the general public is largely unaware of its existence. Go ahead, ask a non-bookish friend or family member if they know about Google Book Search.
As the GBS database grows, and given Google’s track record of success in rolling out new products and services, GBS will probably become as ubiquitous as Google search and gmail eventually. I have no regrets about listing with GBS. I subscribe to the Just Get It Out There In Front Of As Many Eyeballs As Possible school where my books are concerned, and GBS is poised to deliver quite a few eyeballs indeed.
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about Google Book Search lately. Mainstream publishers and authors are variously confused, angry or nervous about GBS, but for indie authors and small imprints, it’s all good.
What’s This All About, Then?
From Wikipedia:
Google Book Search is a tool from Google that searches the full text of books that Google scans, converts to text using optical character recognition, and stores in its digital database. The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2004. When relevant to a user's keyword search, up to three results from the Google Book Search index are displayed above search results in the Google Web Search service (google.com).
A user may also search just for books at the dedicated Google Book Search service. Clicking a result from Google Book Search opens an interface in which the user may view pages from the book as well as content-related advertisements and links to the publisher's website and booksellers. Through a variety of access limitations and security measures, some based on user-tracking, Google limits the number of viewable pages and attempts to prevent page printing and text copying of material under copyright.
GBS Offers Benefits To Authors And Publishers
Book search results served up by GBS include a cover image, table of contents, keywords from each chapter, excerpts from throughout the book, and where-to-buy links. GBS provides publishers and authors with a new avenue to help consumers find their books, read excerpts, and even buy those books.
In addition, authors and publishers who sign up to be a GBS Partner (required if you want to upload your own books) receive additional benefits. Partners can view reports containing detailed information about when and how their GBS books have been accessed, as well as how frequently GBS users click on the where-to-buy links for their books. GBS book pages also contain Google AdSense ads which have been targeted based on the content of the book currently being viewed, and GBS Partners receive a portion of the ad revenue Google earns for click-throughs on those ads.
So What’s The Problem?
Exposure plus maybe enough ad revenue to buy yourself a fancy coffee once in a while...what’s not to love? If you’re an indie author or small imprint, nothing. But the mainstream has four major beefs with GBS: Google didn’t ask their permission, GBS muddies the question of when a book goes out of print, GBS introduces some level of copyright risk, and publishers and authors have no control over how GBS presents their books to the public.
Google Decided It’s Better To Beg Forgiveness Than Ask Permission
When Google came up with the idea for GBS they realized it would only work if the majority of published books are part of the GBS database, because the more complete the database, the more useful and trustworthy it becomes. Rather than go to all the publishers of the world and ask if GBS could please scan each publisher’s books into their database, Google simply issued a public statement of their intent to do so. GBS also included functionality that allows authors and publishers themselves to upload books directly to the database.
Legal wrangling eventually resulted in a settlement agreement that allows authors and publishers to opt their books out of GBS, but the default setting for all books is opt-in: unless you specifically take action to opt out per the terms of the agreement, your books are fair game to be scanned or uploaded to the GBS database. Though the agreement was hard-won, most major publishers are not choosing to exercise the opt-out option, and that's making many mainstream authors very nervous.
This is a non-issue for indies, for two reasons. First, indie books are very low on GBS’ list of priorities where getting content for their database is concerned, and are therefore only likely to find their way into the GBS database if we upload them ourselves (effecting a post-facto ‘opt-in’). Secondly, if you don’t want your books in the database but find that someone else has scanned or uploaded them, GBS provides a simple means to have them removed. Since we retain all rights to our work, we don’t have to go along with a publisher’s decision to opt in or out of GBS.
When Does A Google Books Book Go Out Of Print?
Mainstream publishing contracts typically stipulate that when a publisher stops manufacturing or distributing a given book for sale, publication rights for that book revert to the author. The author is then free to re-publish the book themselves, or through a different publisher. Mainstream authors are worried about the possibility that a book in the GBS database could be construed as “in print” indefinitely, though there have yet to be any court cases to settle the matter.
Indies don’t have to worry about it, because we retain all publication rights to our work from day one. Even if the courts eventually find GBS books meet some legal definition of the term “in print”, thereby allowing publishers to retain publishing rights so long as the books are in the GBS database, it won’t matter to us because we are our own publishers.
Does GBS Pose New Copyright Risks?
Publishers and authors are also worried about the risks of copyright infringement introduced by allowing an outside party to store the entire text of their books in a database, and by allowing excerpts of those books to be displayed online. While GBS provides excerpts, cover images and bibliographic data for every book in its database, it does not provide the full text of any book to GBS users, nor does it provide any easy means to download or even print any of the content shown onscreen.
Given enough time, a motivated, technically skilled pirate could theoretically steal the excerpts and cover images for re-use in some illegal fashion, but the same is possible for any book on a public library shelf. If anything, public libraries and book lending among friends pose a greater piracy threat, since anyone in possession of the entire book can scan or copy its pages for illegal re-use.
There’s also the omnipresent threat posed to any online system: that hackers may find a way to get into the database and download entire files---in this case, books---for nefarious purposes. Possible, yes. Likely, no. And unless you’re a well-known or best-selling author, the risk that a hacker might choose to copy and illegally redistribute your book is very, very small. If you’re worried about GBS security and find your book becoming so popular that piracy is a legitimate concern, you can always just pull it out of the GBS database.
Presentation And Advertising
GBS serves up book search results in their own, fixed format, and also includes Google AdSense text ads targeted according to the content of the book being displayed on the right-hand side of the page. Authors and publishers have no control over the book display format or content, nor over the advertising display or content.
Those who want to micromanage their book’s image and exclude outside advertising are not pleased, but they don’t seem to realize that so long as their books are available for sale through any online retailer, matters of display and advertising are out of their hands anyway.
Any book available online can be found using a simple Google search, and the results page for any Google search includes targeted Google AdSense advertising links on the far right-hand side. Authors and publishers have no control over the ads, nor do they receive any portion of the revenue earned on those ads.
Furthermore, once the searcher clicks through on a link to Amazon, Borders, B&N or wherever else, the book they’re looking for will be displayed in that store’s standard format, over which authors and publishers have no control. Book listings in online stores almost always include advertising in the form of cross-sell links to other books in which the searcher may be interested---typically, competing books from other authors.
Another complaint in this area is the revenue split on advertising displayed on GBS book pages. Recall that Google splits GBS ad revenue with GBS Partners, and in the case of a mainstream publisher, the publisher will be the GBS Partner, not the author. To me, this seems a matter to be settled between mainstream authors and their publishers rather than a GBS issue.
Yet again, indies have no need for concern here. We can sign up to become GBS Partners and keep all of the ad revenue split for ourselves.
Still Not Sure Whether To Upload Your Books?
If you have concerns about the risks and possible ramifications of allowing your books to be listed on GBS, carefully review the GBS Program Policies and the settlement agreement with an attorney versed in matters of copyright and publishing law before making any decisions. You might also want to read this Authorweb piece on GBS.
One more thing - if you're self-publishing in the hopes of attracting a mainstream publisher, it's probably best to err on the side of caution and leave your books out of GBS since you can't predict how a future publisher with which you may have dealings will feel about GBS.
My Experience With GBS
I’ve had my novels, Adelaide Einstein and Snow Ball, listed on GBS since May of 2008. Joining the Partner program was very easy and GBS dovetails seamlessly with other Google services I already use like gmail, AdSense and the like.
From the time I uploaded the books it took about three months for them to show up in GBS searches, but the process is probably bit speedier now that the settlement agreement has again freed GBS to focus the bulk of their energies on scanning and uploading content.
My Partner reports show I’m getting a smattering of page views, but if viewers are subsequently buying my books, they’re not using the GBS where-to-buy links to do so. I’ve also yet to see any ad revenue from GBS. I suspect this meager traffic is due in large part to the fact that while GBS is widely known and discussed in author and publisher circles, the general public is largely unaware of its existence. Go ahead, ask a non-bookish friend or family member if they know about Google Book Search.
As the GBS database grows, and given Google’s track record of success in rolling out new products and services, GBS will probably become as ubiquitous as Google search and gmail eventually. I have no regrets about listing with GBS. I subscribe to the Just Get It Out There In Front Of As Many Eyeballs As Possible school where my books are concerned, and GBS is poised to deliver quite a few eyeballs indeed.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Lulu vs. CreateSpace: Which Is More Economical For The DIY Author?
At the risk of coming off as some kind of Amazon shill, I'm afraid I've just got to blog about one of their services again: CreateSpace. I feel this is necessary because I keep seeing tweets, posts and Facebook notes from indie authors--especially authors outside the US---who intend to go through Lulu based in part on a belief that Lulu is the most economical choice for the services offered, and in many, many cases, this is simply not true.
Still, don't take this post as a slam against Lulu, because Lulu may yet be the better choice for some authors and publishers. With CS, you deliver a print-ready manuscript file and cover art file, and CS prints your book---end of story. With CS there is no quality control, no one is checking your content for errors, nor even ensuring that you haven't inadvertently left editing marks in your manuscript file. You must be willing to either do all the tasks involved in bringing your book to print by yourself, or hire out for them as needed.
UPDATE, 9/30/09 - Createspace now offers publishing packages with added pro services for additional fees, but such packages are optional and you can still opt to use CS strictly as a printing/binding service.
Lulu, on the other hand, offers author service packages for authors and publishers who don't intend to go it alone. Those of you who do intend to go it alone, read on. Note that prices quoted herein are accurate as of this writing, but subject to change going forward.
I've spent considerable time wading through the terms, services, help and FAQ pages at both CreateSpace and Lulu, among other places, and here's what I've found.
Lulu - Published By You, Or Published By Lulu
If you go through Lulu, you can choose 'Published by You' or 'Published by Lulu'.
With PbY (US$99.99 if you're in the US, Germany or Netherlands and $137.84 if you're in the UK or Ireland), you retain all publication rights to your book and automatically get Lulu's Expanded Distribution Service thrown in, which will list your published book with book stocking catalogs used by international booksellers and libraries.
With PbL (free), you grant Lulu exclusive publication rights to your ms and must pay $49.95 extra for the Expanded Distribution Service if you want it. While Lulu's site isn't terribly clear on the ramifications of this, I would take it to mean that you cannot publish the same edition of the same book elsewhere (i.e., publish through Lulu for international orders and through CreateSpace for US orders), and it may also mean you must return to Lulu if/when you want to publish new editions of the same book. Here's the relevant licensing agreement.
Still, don't take this post as a slam against Lulu, because Lulu may yet be the better choice for some authors and publishers. With CS, you deliver a print-ready manuscript file and cover art file, and CS prints your book---end of story. With CS there is no quality control, no one is checking your content for errors, nor even ensuring that you haven't inadvertently left editing marks in your manuscript file. You must be willing to either do all the tasks involved in bringing your book to print by yourself, or hire out for them as needed.
UPDATE, 9/30/09 - Createspace now offers publishing packages with added pro services for additional fees, but such packages are optional and you can still opt to use CS strictly as a printing/binding service.
Lulu, on the other hand, offers author service packages for authors and publishers who don't intend to go it alone. Those of you who do intend to go it alone, read on. Note that prices quoted herein are accurate as of this writing, but subject to change going forward.
I've spent considerable time wading through the terms, services, help and FAQ pages at both CreateSpace and Lulu, among other places, and here's what I've found.
Lulu - Published By You, Or Published By Lulu
If you go through Lulu, you can choose 'Published by You' or 'Published by Lulu'.
With PbY (US$99.99 if you're in the US, Germany or Netherlands and $137.84 if you're in the UK or Ireland), you retain all publication rights to your book and automatically get Lulu's Expanded Distribution Service thrown in, which will list your published book with book stocking catalogs used by international booksellers and libraries.
With PbL (free), you grant Lulu exclusive publication rights to your ms and must pay $49.95 extra for the Expanded Distribution Service if you want it. While Lulu's site isn't terribly clear on the ramifications of this, I would take it to mean that you cannot publish the same edition of the same book elsewhere (i.e., publish through Lulu for international orders and through CreateSpace for US orders), and it may also mean you must return to Lulu if/when you want to publish new editions of the same book. Here's the relevant licensing agreement.
***4/24/09 - update...the word "exclusive" no longer appears in Lulu's PbY agreement; however, if you read through the numbered items in the agreement, they seem to grant Lulu a de facto exclusive publication right anyway. Like I said, the verbiage isn't completely clear on what rights you are and aren't signing over to Lulu. Compare to this, from CreateSpace's user agreement, under the heading of Ownership:
Subject to the licenses set forth in this Section 6 and the following sentence, and as between the parties, you own all right, title and interest in and to the Content, including all patent, copyright, trademark, service mark, mask work, moral right, trade secret or other intellectual property or proprietary right (collectively, "Intellectual Property Rights") therein.
The stuff in Section 6 pertains to licensing rights allowing CS to set your book up for Amazon listings, search inside the book, etc., and earlier in the agreement CS refers to itself as a Seller of your content, but never refers to itself as the "publisher" the way Lulu does. Here's a link to the full CS agreement. If you are seriously considering working with Lulu, I'd suggest you contact them directly and get more specific information in writing before deciding one way or the other.***
In fairness, I'll say that if you accept CreateSpace's free ISBN, CreateSpace remains the registered owner of that ISBN, which means you will not be able to list your book with catalogs like Bowker's and Nielsen's because only the registered ISBN owner is allowed to do so. However, YOU still retain all rights to the material, you are not asked to grant exclusive publication rights to CS, and the matter of registered ISBN ownership isn't as big a deal for most individual indie authors as some scaremongers make it out to be.
If you're in the UK or Ireland, you must agree to this, separate terms of service for the PbY service. Note that it says you will be required to accept an assigned block of 10 ISBNs from Lulu. However, even if you opt for the free PbL service, you still must pay the Expanded Distribution Service fee of $49.95 to get your book listed in international book catalogs. Confused yet? Let's take a look at a recap of these pricing options.
US/German/Netherlands authors/publishers:
PbY option = US$99.99
Expanded Distribution for PbY option = included in PbY option
PbL option = no charge
Expanded Distribution for PbL option = US$49.95
no requirement to sign the Ireland/UK terms of service
UK/Ireland authors/publishers:
PbY option = US$137.84
Expanded Distribution for PbY option = included in PbY option
PbL option = no charge
Expanded Distribution for PbL option = US$49.95
must sign the Ireland/UK terms of service
See Lulu's chart comparing the distribution options.
What Does Lulu's Distribution Service Promise To Deliver - Or Not?
So maybe you're willing to fork over the extra money for international distribution, but here's the zinger. Right in its terms, Lulu says:
"The decision to list a book is up to the individual retailer. Published By You and Published By Lulu distribution services gets your book listed with the distributor used by major retailers like Amazon. This means major booksellers will have the option and ability to list your book as available for sale, which they did not have before. In our experience, Amazon will almost always list a book for sale once they have access to it through the wholesaler.Then again, when you purchase a distribution service, it can take 6 to 8 weeks for your book to hit an online bookshelf. This is because most booksellers only update their database with new listings once a month."
In other words, while they will get your book into the major distributor catalogs, Lulu does not guarantee your book will be listed on Amazon or anywhere else. The catalogs Lulu lists with are Bowker (for US + int'l.) and Nielsen (for UK). I don't doubt that "Amazon will almost always list a book for sale once they have access to it," but I don't know that "almost always" is worth paying a fee for.
As it turns out, you can register to add your own listings to these services FOR FREE, but only if you are the publisher of record. That means that whether you publish thru Lulu or CS, if you want to be able to add your catalog listings (which accomplishes the exact same thing Lulu says they'll do for you with their 'expanded distribution service'), you must purchase your own ISBNs from Bowker, and possibly your own barcodes as well.
Bowker offers a package deal where you can get your own ISBN + barcode + Bowker catalog listing starting at US$150. That's $50 more than the $99.99 US Published by You option at Lulu, and $12.16 more than the UK/Ireland Published By You option at Lulu.
One advantage of listing your books through Bowkers and Nielsen, whether you do it yourself or let Lulu do it for you, is that doing so makes your books available for order through any retailer, bookstore or library. Personally, I don't feel indie books receive enough bookstore or library orders to make this worthwhile, but if your motivation is to make your book available to be listed on Amazon.ca, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble online and even Borders online, it's probably worth the expense.
In contrast, if you opt for the Premium package at CS (US$39, a one-time fee that keeps your per-copy production costs permanently lowered), plus the Bowker ISBN + barcode package (US$150), you'll be out up to US$89 more than if you'd gone with Lulu under PbY. However, you won't have been required to sign that UK/Ireland terms of use, and your book will have all the same international listing opportunities as if you'd gone w/ Lulu's PbY service.
At this point you may be thinking Lulu still looks like the most sensible option, even with the UK/Ireland terms of service, but you haven't taken per-copy production costs into account, and that's where Lulu really fails.
Per-Copy Production Costs Are The Bottom Line
Taking one of my own CS books as an example, a 346pp, perfect-bound, 6x9, black and white trade paperback with full color cover, with CS's Premium service my per-copy production cost is $5. That means I pay $5 per copy to buy author copies. The same book thru Lulu will run me $11.46 in production costs per copy, and $11.46 to buy each author copy.
Mainstream trade paperbacks of these approximate dimensions sell for US$14-16 in stores. Given that the bookseller's take is a standard 40% wherever you sell, online or brick-and-mortar, if I want to price my book right in the middle of that range ($15) the bookseller's take is $6. Just to break even, I'd have to raise the retail price on my Lulu book to just over $19, $20 or more if I'd like to make at least $1 profit per copy.
The CS book, by comparison, can remain priced at $15 per copy and I'll still earn $4 per copy in net profit/royalty. In fact, I can price my book at the lower end of the scale, at $14 (which in fact, I do) and still earn $3 per copy in net profit. That's a royalty of 21.4%, which is a damn sight better than mainstream authors get.
But what about that total expenditure of $189 you'd have to absorb ($150 to Bowker + $39 to CS for the Premium package), or the $100 ($138 in the UK) you'd spend on Lulu's Published By You program? Assuming you price your Lulu book at $20, you'd have to sell 100 - 138 copies before you break even. You wouldn't clear your first dollar of real profit on your Lulu book till copy #101 - 139 sells. However, if you've published through CS you can make back most of your upfront investment in author copies.
Recall that Lulu's author copies for this book are $11.46 each, and CS's are $5. You save $6.46 per author copy by publishing through CS. If you plan to order 25 author copies (for friends, family, hand-selling, and sending to reviewers), you'll save 25 x $6.46, or $161.50, right there. This leaves you with about $28 to recoup, which means if you'd have to sell 7 copies of a $15 book to break even and 10 copies of a $14 book to break even. Given that your CS book is priced so much lower than your Lulu book, it will be much easier to make those sales than if you'd gone through Lulu.
While it's true that Lulu offers production cost discounts on their POD books on a sliding scale based on how many books you order upfront, given that the whole point of going POD is not having to order a minimum quantity up front for hand-selling, such discounts aren't terribly relevant to the typical author seeking POD services.
Tweet this blog entry!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Why Amazon And Indie Are Not Mutually Exclusive
I received an email today from someone who says:
My books are only available through Amazon, they cannot be ordered through any brick-and-mortar store. I did not elect to list with Ingrams or Lightning Source because the expense is not worthwhile when compared to how many books I think I can reasonably sell through brick-and-mortar outlets, whether corporate or independent.
However, if you visit Publetariat, an online news hub and community for indie authors and small imprints I founded recently, you'll find the Indiebound link right there on the front page of the site:
http://www.publetariat.com/
I have a different perspective on Amazon, and one I hope you'll hear me out on if you're really as indie-minded as you say you are.
In order to survive, a business must excel in at least one of three areas: price, selection or service. Amazon competes on selection, and to a lesser extent, price. But they can't hold a candle in terms of service to the local, independent, brick-and-mortar bookstore in my town that specializes in children's and teachers' books. The staff there has an encyclopedic knowledge of kids' books and authors, as well as a finger on the pulse of the local schools' required reading lists. So when I want children's or teachers' books I go to that store, and if the book I want is not on-hand in the store I order it from the store instead of from Amazon, even if Amazon has it priced lower, because I want to compensate the store's staff for their great customer service. Likewise, there's an indie bookseller in Santa Monica that specializes in art and architecture books, and it's always worth a visit when I'm in that area.
Like it or not, people go where they can get what they want according to their specific priorities. If they want selection and don't care about personalized service, they'll go to Amazon. If they want a current bestseller in their hands today and don't care about personalized service, they'll go to a Borders or Barnes and Noble. If they want personalized service and in-depth knowledge about the books they're buying, they'll go to a local, independent bookshop.
Businesses have to earn their customers, and as the co-owner of the pond maintenance business my husband operates, I know this all too well. He can't talk people into using his service with an argument against the evils of big, corporate pond services, and indie bookstores can't talk me into shopping their stores with a similar argument.
Let Amazon dominate the impersonal, warehouse approach to bookselling. No brick-and-mortar store, indie or otherwise, can compete with Amazon on selection, so why try? But also recognize, Amazon is handing small, indie booksellers a huge opportunity to provide the things Amazon cannot: personalized service tailored to a local community or demographic, and knowledgeable, friendly staff. Those are things customers are willing to pay for and drive out of their way for. But if a given shop can't offer me better service, better prices, or better selection, they simply haven't earned my business---or anyone else's.
****************************************************************************
I am wondering why you call yourself an "inide" (sic) author when you have not one, but 2 links to Amazon on your site with no mention of Indiebound.org. Amazon is the anti-indie.
As the manager of an indie book shop we seek the support of authors by asking them to post Indiebound.org as a purchase option.
I cannot believe that you profess to be indie all over [your author] site when you are blatently (sic) promoting Amazon, an entity that has been responsible for destroying the spirit of indie across this country. You will have a very difficult time getting indie book shops to support your book with a page that has Amazon all over it.
Here's my response:
**********************************************************************My books are only available through Amazon, they cannot be ordered through any brick-and-mortar store. I did not elect to list with Ingrams or Lightning Source because the expense is not worthwhile when compared to how many books I think I can reasonably sell through brick-and-mortar outlets, whether corporate or independent.
However, if you visit Publetariat, an online news hub and community for indie authors and small imprints I founded recently, you'll find the Indiebound link right there on the front page of the site:
http://www.publetariat.com/
I have a different perspective on Amazon, and one I hope you'll hear me out on if you're really as indie-minded as you say you are.
In order to survive, a business must excel in at least one of three areas: price, selection or service. Amazon competes on selection, and to a lesser extent, price. But they can't hold a candle in terms of service to the local, independent, brick-and-mortar bookstore in my town that specializes in children's and teachers' books. The staff there has an encyclopedic knowledge of kids' books and authors, as well as a finger on the pulse of the local schools' required reading lists. So when I want children's or teachers' books I go to that store, and if the book I want is not on-hand in the store I order it from the store instead of from Amazon, even if Amazon has it priced lower, because I want to compensate the store's staff for their great customer service. Likewise, there's an indie bookseller in Santa Monica that specializes in art and architecture books, and it's always worth a visit when I'm in that area.
Like it or not, people go where they can get what they want according to their specific priorities. If they want selection and don't care about personalized service, they'll go to Amazon. If they want a current bestseller in their hands today and don't care about personalized service, they'll go to a Borders or Barnes and Noble. If they want personalized service and in-depth knowledge about the books they're buying, they'll go to a local, independent bookshop.
Businesses have to earn their customers, and as the co-owner of the pond maintenance business my husband operates, I know this all too well. He can't talk people into using his service with an argument against the evils of big, corporate pond services, and indie bookstores can't talk me into shopping their stores with a similar argument.
Let Amazon dominate the impersonal, warehouse approach to bookselling. No brick-and-mortar store, indie or otherwise, can compete with Amazon on selection, so why try? But also recognize, Amazon is handing small, indie booksellers a huge opportunity to provide the things Amazon cannot: personalized service tailored to a local community or demographic, and knowledgeable, friendly staff. Those are things customers are willing to pay for and drive out of their way for. But if a given shop can't offer me better service, better prices, or better selection, they simply haven't earned my business---or anyone else's.
****************************************************************************
That local, indie bookshop in my town is doing just fine, thanks to an owner smart enough to turn her shop into a true community center by offering a full calendar of both free and fee-based kids' activities, early education speakers, store appearances and signings from authors of children's books, and of course, that helpful and knowledgeable staff. Everyone in town knows about Judy's shop, and we're very happy to repay her efforts by remaining her loyal customers---even if we must pay a little more for the books in her shop, and special-order a book from her every now and then when we can't find it on the store shelves. Any indie bookshop that fulfills a need in the marketplace can achieve the same level of success and customer loyalty. But any business that must be subsidized through 'pity purchases' in order to survive is a business that simply isn't viable in the long run, because it's not meeting customer needs in at least one of the three key areas: price, selection or service.
Sometimes the business landscape changes, and that's not always a bad thing. Big, chain bookstores will continue to lose ground to Amazon because they can't beat Amazon in any of the three key areas. But in such an environment specialty booksellers can flourish and thrive if they're willing to capitalize on strengths they have which Amazon lacks, and adapt to the new landscape instead of lamenting it.
And one more thing - There's nothing anti-indie at all in my position that indie booksellers need to earn my business. I don't expect anybody to buy my books merely on the basis that I'm an indie author. I must earn each and every purchase through the quality of my work, and that's as it should be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
