Stormy Weather
22. Jan, 2010 
6 Comments
I am not referring to the rainstorms lashing Arizona, though I could be. Weird thing, rainstorms in a desert. Having grown up in New England, I’m used to rain. The ground usually soaks it in. Not here. The ground is like adobe brick, so the water sheets off. Now I enjoy hydroplaning down the highway as much as the next guy—unless that next guy is a Phoenix native or one of our ancient winter visitors. They don’t like driving in the rain at all, and protest by driving badly. (Despite this statement, I made it across town to the Draco Vista Studios and recorded two weeks worth of Dragonpage Cover to Cover episodes, including the 8th Anniversary show.)
The stormy weather is in the realm of digital books. Amazon announced yesterday that, beginning after June, that they’d be offering a 70% royalty on ebooks, which is double what they currently offer to independents and 20% more than they offer to traditional publishers. The books have to be priced within certain parameters, and must be in-copyright. Authors who provide such work will be paid in 60 days after the sale. The reason this is significant is because mainstream publishers are offering authors half to a quarter of that much on electronic books, paid 6 to 9 months after the sale.
Amazon took this drastic step because next week, on the 27th, they expect Apple to announce their tablet computer. Rumors have been flying that Apple is in negotiations with mainstream publishers to put their work for sale on the new Apple device. Anything sold through iTunes is split 30-70 between Apple and the content provider, so Amazon had to quickly match the Apple price. (Prior to this Amazon paid mainstream publishers 50% of cover; independent authors like me, 35% of cover.) Amazon’s delaying the royalty raise until June coincides with rumors that June is when Apple will begin to deliver their device.
You can bet that other publishers and ebook providers will be adjusting their price structures, too, to reflect this new reality.
And make no mistake about it, this new reality is great news for authors. The work needed to turn out a Kindle-ready copy of a story or novel is not difficult and will take maybe a couple hours the first time you do it. (Longer if you have to scan a copy of an old book in, granted.) I’ve priced short stories at $2-3 dollars and they sell fine, novels at $5, and these move rather briskly. In fact, in January I’ve watched novel sales triple on several books. The folks who got Kindles for Christmas clearly are needing things to fill it up.
I’ll also be adding epub versions of my work to my store. Epub is a new, universal format which will be the lingua franca of ebooks until the next format comes along to replace it. Turning those documents out is the work of an hour or so per, so it will take me some time to get everything made over into that format. The advantage of epub is that readers (like the Sony) handle it better than they handle PDFs. Epub also allows some formatting tricks that make the books look really slick.
This really is a great time for authors, if the authors are willing to do a couple of things. First, set up a website and utilize social networking software to give your audience a place to find you. Second, get involved on the net and show your potential audience that you can be entertaining. Third, provide good content for sale and samples for free to get your audience invested in your writing. Fourth, and perhaps the most important, realize that what you’re doing is a business. Make sound business decisions (hint: not making work available in electronic formats is not a good decision) and the aftermath of the stormy transition will reward you very well.
So, Mike… silly question, where do you download Epub to to convert documents to the Epub format?
Thanks, Robert
What are the pricing constraints?
Since I suck, I might be willing to offer my work at a significantly lower price than other authors. I’d be like the Taco Bell Bean Burrito of Kindle Content.
Robert, once I have the epub’s up and in my store, I’ll blog it with links. As I noted above, the transition is taking some time, mainly because I’m in the middle of edits on At The Queen’s Command. Shouldn’t be too long—by the middle of February anyway.
Here’s the deal on Amazon pricing: $2.99-$9.99 will fit you into the 70% royalty category.
While I know your comment was meant to be humorous, I really think you want to examine what you’re saying about your own work. The fact is simply this: if you, as an author, are wiling to work hard at writing, work hard at networking and offer sampling for free so readers can make an informed decision to buy or not to buy, then you don’t need to be the bargain basement alternative to anyone else.
Why is that? Because prices are already incredibly low. Yeah, more folks will hit something offer for free than for $1; but once they’re willing to pay, the difference between $1 and $10 is not that significant, especially when you’re looking at entertainment value. If they want to read your stories—and sampling will let them make that decision—then paying $10 for a novel that will last them 5-10 hours is a stunning bargain. Heck, if they read it more than once, it’s practically free, and a lifesaver on a long flight.
If you worry about getting price right, you’re worried about the wrong thing. Get the story right, and price will take care of itself.
And, Robert, I’m using a program called SIGIL to do the conversion. It’s free and you can find it with an internet search. It’s not as slick as I might like, but free works for me, and the files it kicks out work, too.
Not only that, but I probably can’t produce in the volume needed to be the Taco Bell Bean Burrito.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me the difference between $1 and $10 is phenomenal. Anything under $1 I can coax myself into thinking is “nearly free,” whereas anything between about $1 and $10 is literally a Taco Bell Burrito I could be eating. College student budgets, go figure.
Of course, it’s definately a smaller step than between “Don’t have to take out my credit card” and “$ 0.01″, but it’s there and it is significant. And not to sell myself short, but I’d certainly be willing to part with a short for a buck (or $.70) a copy. I might even write more at that rate.
I’m a dabbler, Mike. Writing isn’t my true calling and I know it. I’m not really willing to work hard on writing or networking. I give most of my stuff away for free, and I know plenty of folks better than me who do the same.