I was about to post an overlong response in a comment thread on Joel Friedlander's The Book Designer blog, but on reflection, realized what I was about to post wasn't a response, it was a blog entry in its own right. The article associated with the comment thread is about Library of Congress registration information, and the subject of ISBN ownership came up in the discussion going on beneath the article, in the comments. And here's what I have to say about ISBN ownership:
In the case of an individual author who only self-publishes his own manuscripts (as opposed to someone running an imprint, publishing works by other authors) what does it matter, really, who's the registered owner of the ISBN on a book? There's no legal or regulatory tie between ISBN ownership/registration and copyright or intellectual property rights. ISBN registration only designates ownership of the ISBN, not ownership of the content of the book to which the ISBN has been assigned.
I've used Createspace's free ISBNs on all of my self-published books to date, and while this technically makes Createspace the 'publisher of record' in the ISBN records, I still retain all rights to the published material and I still own the copyrights. CS's terms of use state this explicitly, and CS is also very adamant that their company not be listed as Publisher on their clients' books' copyright pages.
ISBN ownership can help to establish the legitimacy of a publisher's claim to profits from a given book in a legal challenge situation, but given that CS has made it abundantly clear it never wants to be named as the publisher of record for any of the books it prints and distributes, the likelihood of CS trying to usurp my royalties seems pretty remote. Also, since copyright is the most meaningful measure of intellectual property ownership in the case of a book, and I own the copyrights on my books, the fact that CS is the registered owner of my books' ISBNs wouldn't allow CS to claim my intellectual property rights, either. One caveat: the financial and legal waters would be a bit murkier if I were running an imprint and publishing other authors' works as well as my own, and in that case I would absolutely want to purchase and register all the ISBNs in the name of my imprint.
While not being the registered ISBN owner prevents me from listing the books with wholesale catalogs myself, since Createspace now offers to create wholesale catalog listings as part of their service, it's a non-issue for me. My CS books are available on Amazon, Amazon UK, through Barnes and Noble, and through every other bookseller and retailer that stocks its inventory via the Ingram or Baker & Taylor catalogs, and that's most of them.
Borders is a special case, in that its online and in-store inventory is stocked from an internally-maintained catalog; the only way any publisher, indie or mainstream, gets her books listed with Borders is to get one of Borders' buyers to add them to Borders' internal catalog. Since my CS books are listed in the Ingram and Baker & Taylor catalogs, from which Borders draws entries for its internal catalog, I could approach a Borders buyer and inquire about getting my CS books added to Borders' catalog if I wanted to, but I haven't bothered.
True, my books aren't available through European wholesale book catalogs (since only the registered ISBN owner can list books with those catalogs), but since I'm not promoting my books in foreign markets nor releasing them in foreign language editions, I don't think I'm missing out on many sales there. Amazon UK is the #1 bookseller for English-language books in Europe, and my CS books are already listed on that site.
While not being the registered ISBN owner also prevents me from registering my books with the Library of Congress, I don't really care about that and I don't think anyone else does either---with respect to my books, anyway. It would matter if I were trying to get my self-pub books stocked by public and institutional libraries, but let's face it: self-pub books, novels especially, aren't likely to be stocked by those libraries anyway.
If I self-publish anything new in the future I'll most likely purchase my own ISBN/barcode blocks for the new projects, but only because "premium" or "expanded" distribution options offered by print and digital publishing service providers increasingly require that the author/imprint be the registered owner of the ISBN. Since this is already a requirement for Smashwords' premium ebook catalog, I expect it's going to become commonplace for ebooks to have ISBNs just like print books and hard media audiobooks.
Even so, I still see the whole thing as little more than an administrative hoop through which I'll soon be forced to jump and an extra expense I'll be forced to shoulder to make retailers' lives easier. Cost of doing business, and all that. I'm still not likely to list my self-published books with European wholesale catalogs, nor Borders' internal catalog, and I definitely won't bother registering them with the Library of Congress.
I have always maintained, and still maintain, that ISBNs are merely tracking numbers used by retailers, libraries and government agencies to organize, and retain control over, their inventory of books---nothing more, and nothing less. Some people (and I'm not talking about Joel Friedlander or anyone who's commented on his article) treat ISBN purchase and ownership like some kind of mark of legitimacy, and others even go so far as to tell self-publishers that if your book's ISBN isn't registered in your name, that fact alone makes your book a "vanity" project and you an amateur who doesn't deserve to wear the name "author".
Horsefeathers. There may be compelling business reasons for this or that indie author to purchase and register his own ISBNs, and there are definitely compelling business reasons for imprints to do so. But that's all they are: business reasons.
Showing posts with label bias against self-publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bias against self-publishing. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Self-Publishing: Future Prerequisite
Until recently, if you were self-published virtually any agent or book editor worth her salt didn’t want to hear about it. Many of them would want nothing to do with you at all, as if your self-published status might rub their own cachet off or something. But given the tenor and content of the sessions at this year’s Writers Digest Business of Getting Published Conference, I predict it won’t be long before agents and editors will routinely respond to queries by asking what you’ve self-published, and how it’s doing. That’s right, and you heard it here first:
At the conference, the prevailing message was that authors, both aspiring and already published, need to be getting themselves and their work out there in front of the reading public at every opportunity. And guess what? If you’re blogging or making your writing available for download in ebook or podcast formats you're already self-publishing. As for those who aren’t doing these things for fear of intellectual property theft, in numerous sessions attendees were reminded of Tim O’Reilly’s now legendary quote: that for anyone trying to build an audience, “Obscurity is a greater threat than piracy.”
Seth Harwood and Scott Sigler, both of whom broke through to mainstream success after building an audience for their podcasts, advised conference attendees that the best way to get publishers to sit up and take notice is to demonstrate your ability to build an audience and move your material on your own. Social media guru Chris Brogan said the easiest way to get a book deal is not to need one---because you’ve already established your own platform and have your own audience---, and proposed that rather than follow established roads, aspiring authors should go where there are no roads and create their own. Writers Digest Publisher and Editorial Director Jane Friedman reminded us that here in the 21st century there are no longer any rules in publishing, and reiterated the notion that for aspiring authors, platform comes before the book deal. Be The Media author David Mathison hammered away at the importance of connecting with your readership directly. Booksquare’s Kassia Krozser urged authors to push out into every available channel to enable readers to find them, and as for The Writer Mama Christina Katz, the title of her most recent book is Get Known Before The Book Deal ('nuff said!).
So, how do you intend to enable readers to find you, or build an audience, or connect with readers directly, or get known before the book deal if you’re not publishing or podcasting any of your work? You can’t just tell your site or blog visitors your writing is great, they should trust you on that, and then expect to hold their interest with what amounts to a lengthy series of hang-in-there-I-swear-when-the-book-comes-out-you’ll-love-it messages.
As we all already know, a manuscript’s content is only one piece---an increasingly small piece, unfortunately---of the decision-making puzzle when it comes to convincing a publisher to make an offer. When the editors, marketing wonks and other decision makers get together to consider which manuscripts to acquire, Risk is the name of the elephant in the room and mitigating risk is the key to a sale. When you approach an agent or editor with a quality manuscript, you may convince them you can write but you’re doing nothing to reduce their fears about the eventual book’s performance in the marketplace. If you can approach those same people with a book that’s already in the marketplace and already has a fan base, you’ve already answered the question of how the book will perform post-publication. You’ve reduced their antacid intake by half and given them some very good reasons to invest in you and your book.
Don’t let anyone tell you self-publishing is a desperation move. It’s a power move.
I predict that within 5 years, self-publishing will no longer be an option, but a prerequisite for unknown, aspiring authors hoping to land a mainstream publishing deal. It’s the logical, inevitable next step in author platform.
At the conference, the prevailing message was that authors, both aspiring and already published, need to be getting themselves and their work out there in front of the reading public at every opportunity. And guess what? If you’re blogging or making your writing available for download in ebook or podcast formats you're already self-publishing. As for those who aren’t doing these things for fear of intellectual property theft, in numerous sessions attendees were reminded of Tim O’Reilly’s now legendary quote: that for anyone trying to build an audience, “Obscurity is a greater threat than piracy.”
Seth Harwood and Scott Sigler, both of whom broke through to mainstream success after building an audience for their podcasts, advised conference attendees that the best way to get publishers to sit up and take notice is to demonstrate your ability to build an audience and move your material on your own. Social media guru Chris Brogan said the easiest way to get a book deal is not to need one---because you’ve already established your own platform and have your own audience---, and proposed that rather than follow established roads, aspiring authors should go where there are no roads and create their own. Writers Digest Publisher and Editorial Director Jane Friedman reminded us that here in the 21st century there are no longer any rules in publishing, and reiterated the notion that for aspiring authors, platform comes before the book deal. Be The Media author David Mathison hammered away at the importance of connecting with your readership directly. Booksquare’s Kassia Krozser urged authors to push out into every available channel to enable readers to find them, and as for The Writer Mama Christina Katz, the title of her most recent book is Get Known Before The Book Deal ('nuff said!).
So, how do you intend to enable readers to find you, or build an audience, or connect with readers directly, or get known before the book deal if you’re not publishing or podcasting any of your work? You can’t just tell your site or blog visitors your writing is great, they should trust you on that, and then expect to hold their interest with what amounts to a lengthy series of hang-in-there-I-swear-when-the-book-comes-out-you’ll-love-it messages.
As we all already know, a manuscript’s content is only one piece---an increasingly small piece, unfortunately---of the decision-making puzzle when it comes to convincing a publisher to make an offer. When the editors, marketing wonks and other decision makers get together to consider which manuscripts to acquire, Risk is the name of the elephant in the room and mitigating risk is the key to a sale. When you approach an agent or editor with a quality manuscript, you may convince them you can write but you’re doing nothing to reduce their fears about the eventual book’s performance in the marketplace. If you can approach those same people with a book that’s already in the marketplace and already has a fan base, you’ve already answered the question of how the book will perform post-publication. You’ve reduced their antacid intake by half and given them some very good reasons to invest in you and your book.
Don’t let anyone tell you self-publishing is a desperation move. It’s a power move.
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.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Why I Don't Do The Red Room
Red Room is an online community for writers, publishing industry people, students and avid readers: sort of a bibliophile MySpace. Red Room’s tagline is, “where the writers are,” and sure enough, there are many famous authors listed there. The site contains links which allow visitors to join Red Room, either as a “Red Room Author” or “Red Room Member”. The “Red Room Author” application page opens with, “Red Room encourages writers from all walks of life and all areas of the globe to be a part of our community,” and one section of the About Us page says:
Red Room was named after both a place and a literary tradition. The famous Red Room of the White House is an extraordinary place where revolutionary behavior occurred in a small parlor. For example, when Franklin Roosevelt wouldn't allow female reporters at his press conferences, Eleanor Roosevelt held her own press conferences at the same time for the women. The conferences were so popular that the male reporters started attending, and the President had no choice but to integrate his press conferences in order to get any attention. A tradition of civilized revolution on behalf of disenfranchised writers is carried on in the modern-day Red Room.
Based on that bit about ‘civilized revolution on behalf of disenfranchised writers,’ I figured Red Room must be a place accepting of the ideals of indie authorship and applied to become a Red Room Author. Imagine my surprise when my application was denied due to the fact that I’m self-published—though of course I was welcome to be a Red Room Member. It seemed incredibly hypocritical to me, and I thought that whoever had reviewed my application might just need a little enlightenment. So I wrote back to present my usual case about why indie authorship is every bit as valid a path in authorship as the mainstream route, and received a reply that more or less said Red Room was totally on board with that idea, and that’s why they were preparing to launch a new, ‘Self Published Author’ level of membership, and they looked forward to my participation with that. If you’ve been following this blog for any period of time, you can guess how I felt about it. Here are some excerpts from my response to that notice:
I'm very disappointed by your response. What Red Room is proposing would relegate indie authors like myself to a ghetto neighborhood of Red Room, as you should well know if you know how the term "self-published" is received in the publishing mainstream. This is why I refer to myself and others like me as "indie authors", because to my mind, we are operating much the same as indie filmmakers and indie musicians, and for the same reasons: our industry has become far more interested in making huge quantities of money than in producing a quality or original product...
...I can appreciate that what you propose to do is a well-meaning attempt at inclusion, but so was school segregation. So is the don't-ask-don't-tell policy of the U.S. military. I could've formed an imprint for my books to "pass" for mainstream (as I'm pretty sure some Red Room Authors have done), but because I'm trying to raise awareness and foment a true indie author movement, I've chosen to be "out and proud" about my indie status. It's a shame that Red Room doesn't want to support my efforts…Not only am I not interested in becoming a Self-Published Red Room Author, I would advise any authors I know against it.
I also suggested they at least consider re-naming this proposed new level of membership to something like “Red Room Indie Authors,” “Red Room Independent Voices,” or similar—anything but that prejudicial label of “Self-Published”. Here are excerpts from their response:
…we absolutely agree with you that due to the current nature of the publishing industry, there are too many talented writers who get rejected for purely commercial considerations. Just as frustratingly, these same publishing houses seem to publish many books with little or no artistic merit.
I really appreciate the fact that despite not opting for traditional publication you’ve chosen the “Indie” route. (I like the moniker too!) I’m also sure that your book, The Indie Author Guide, is a great resource for writers, and I think our Members would really benefit from exposure to it, so I truly hope that you will reconsider staying with us on Red Room so you can spread your message.
Our reason for building out a separate Self-Published Author section is to further the same ideas—it will be a place for authors to showcase the fact that they have made their own careers, and to demonstrate that being a self-published author is a visible and viable option for aspiring writers...
But the bottom line was unchanged: at this point I could only be a Red Room Member, and at some point in the future I might be able to apply for Red Room Self-Published Author status. Indie authors may be welcome at Red Room, but not quite as welcome as mainstream-published authors. And since I don’t want to be a part of any community that treats indie authors with less respect and less inclusion than their mainstream peers, I am not a Red Room Member and will not be applying to become a Red Room Self-Published Author.
Red Room was named after both a place and a literary tradition. The famous Red Room of the White House is an extraordinary place where revolutionary behavior occurred in a small parlor. For example, when Franklin Roosevelt wouldn't allow female reporters at his press conferences, Eleanor Roosevelt held her own press conferences at the same time for the women. The conferences were so popular that the male reporters started attending, and the President had no choice but to integrate his press conferences in order to get any attention. A tradition of civilized revolution on behalf of disenfranchised writers is carried on in the modern-day Red Room.
Based on that bit about ‘civilized revolution on behalf of disenfranchised writers,’ I figured Red Room must be a place accepting of the ideals of indie authorship and applied to become a Red Room Author. Imagine my surprise when my application was denied due to the fact that I’m self-published—though of course I was welcome to be a Red Room Member. It seemed incredibly hypocritical to me, and I thought that whoever had reviewed my application might just need a little enlightenment. So I wrote back to present my usual case about why indie authorship is every bit as valid a path in authorship as the mainstream route, and received a reply that more or less said Red Room was totally on board with that idea, and that’s why they were preparing to launch a new, ‘Self Published Author’ level of membership, and they looked forward to my participation with that. If you’ve been following this blog for any period of time, you can guess how I felt about it. Here are some excerpts from my response to that notice:
I'm very disappointed by your response. What Red Room is proposing would relegate indie authors like myself to a ghetto neighborhood of Red Room, as you should well know if you know how the term "self-published" is received in the publishing mainstream. This is why I refer to myself and others like me as "indie authors", because to my mind, we are operating much the same as indie filmmakers and indie musicians, and for the same reasons: our industry has become far more interested in making huge quantities of money than in producing a quality or original product...
...I can appreciate that what you propose to do is a well-meaning attempt at inclusion, but so was school segregation. So is the don't-ask-don't-tell policy of the U.S. military. I could've formed an imprint for my books to "pass" for mainstream (as I'm pretty sure some Red Room Authors have done), but because I'm trying to raise awareness and foment a true indie author movement, I've chosen to be "out and proud" about my indie status. It's a shame that Red Room doesn't want to support my efforts…Not only am I not interested in becoming a Self-Published Red Room Author, I would advise any authors I know against it.
I also suggested they at least consider re-naming this proposed new level of membership to something like “Red Room Indie Authors,” “Red Room Independent Voices,” or similar—anything but that prejudicial label of “Self-Published”. Here are excerpts from their response:
…we absolutely agree with you that due to the current nature of the publishing industry, there are too many talented writers who get rejected for purely commercial considerations. Just as frustratingly, these same publishing houses seem to publish many books with little or no artistic merit.
I really appreciate the fact that despite not opting for traditional publication you’ve chosen the “Indie” route. (I like the moniker too!) I’m also sure that your book, The Indie Author Guide, is a great resource for writers, and I think our Members would really benefit from exposure to it, so I truly hope that you will reconsider staying with us on Red Room so you can spread your message.
Our reason for building out a separate Self-Published Author section is to further the same ideas—it will be a place for authors to showcase the fact that they have made their own careers, and to demonstrate that being a self-published author is a visible and viable option for aspiring writers...
But the bottom line was unchanged: at this point I could only be a Red Room Member, and at some point in the future I might be able to apply for Red Room Self-Published Author status. Indie authors may be welcome at Red Room, but not quite as welcome as mainstream-published authors. And since I don’t want to be a part of any community that treats indie authors with less respect and less inclusion than their mainstream peers, I am not a Red Room Member and will not be applying to become a Red Room Self-Published Author.
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