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Copyright © 1997 - 2010 Michael A. Stackpole
[...] A couple of days ago, I was listening to Mike Stackpole’s podcast, The Secrets (The newsletter is worth the $1/issue, as well), and he gave one of the best pieces of advice about [...]
May 31st, 2007 at 12:16 pm[...] Jed and the Titanium Turtle is a short story “about America and how it deals with a bunch of alien visitors who are ‘here to help.’” Sounds like it could be worth the $2 he’s asking. [...]
July 26th, 2007 at 4:19 pm[...] in Uncategorized at 10:10 am by Tom Dillon Issue 81 of the Secrets Newsletter came out the other day, and it was about character change and growth, and [...]
August 5th, 2007 at 11:10 am[...] something about it. It’s the literary equivalent of shouting FIRST! in the comments. I think he kind of knows it [...]
July 14th, 2008 at 10:50 am[...] evening from 5-8pm PST, the ThirdLife Bookstore will hold their grand opening in Second [...]
August 1st, 2008 at 12:22 pm[...] you may be familiar with some of his work, for Michael is an especially prolific writer. Reading his list of works is like looking through a bunch of old photographs and spotting old forgotten friends in the [...]
August 20th, 2008 at 7:42 am[...] So imagine how I felt when I read THIS [...]
August 20th, 2008 at 7:49 am[...] that sometimes it was difficult to keep the names of some of the people straight. Stackpole has a list on his website in which he provides pronunciations for the various unusual names. I suggest printing this list and [...]
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:15 pm[...] Perhaps I shouldn’t add insult to injury, but with all the talk that has been going on about Criss Angel’s run-in with Perez Hilton, I think many of us have missed the really important thing that Criss Angel’s failure to meet the standards of a magic show tells us about the personality needed for great magical performance. I think the Criss Angel experience has taught us how important these, supposedly obsolete live performances are in really judging our magicians. It is summed up brilliantly by Michael Stackpole in the following blogpost here. [...]
May 4th, 2009 at 3:34 pm[...] them) try and make an argument that torture is justified. The author Michael Stackpole has a good editorial about this on his blog, in which he talks about this far more eloquently than can I, so go give it [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 8:44 pm[...] being an early adopter of a shiny, aluminum-backed Edge iPhone in 2007 might be the telephonic Issue 122 of The Secrets: Kindle Document Preparation – michaelastackpole.com 06/19/2009 I just released Issue 122 of The Secrets newsletter. This issue [...]
June 19th, 2009 at 4:38 pmThat looks like it will be great. If only I did not live so far away.
Ach well, maybe next year (hopefully)
To those who are going, I hope you have a great time.
August 5th, 2009 at 1:15 pmAnd if you’re lucky, you get into syndication.
August 8th, 2009 at 2:04 pmOoh I like this a lot. What a great point of view to look at the days events.
Though people already think I am odd enough as it is, I fear that if I say anything like “Don’t worry, we’ll catch it in editing.” or yell “cut” and saying that I’m going to my dressing room to call my agent, they will think I have finally tipped over the edge.
August 8th, 2009 at 5:16 pmLOVE this..In fact, I’ve decided that I’m going to adopt this all in RL…especially ‘I’m going to my dressing room to call my agent’ bit:)
August 9th, 2009 at 2:28 amI tipped over the edge a loongg time ago!
Very Fun Idea. Divide your life into channels, encourage different approaches, leave what doesn’t work on the cutting room floor. This may just be the next self help best seller idea….
August 10th, 2009 at 11:53 amGreat analogy!
Of course, they could “reimagine” your series as a major motion picture in a dark and gritty style and a younger, prettier cast…
August 11th, 2009 at 11:48 am[...] authors at places like Athena Isle Writers meetings, to very informal chats, such as those author Michael A. Stackpole holds most weeks at his Second Life office Third Life & [...]
August 11th, 2009 at 3:53 pmWhat a crazy analogy! However, it does hold truth to it. I’ve tried to get the cute co-star. One even told me I was looking for someone compassionate rather than similiar interests. Crazy, you say. Yea, I know.
August 13th, 2009 at 3:59 pmI’ve now seen most of the seminars Michael Stackpole does at conventions. At Origins 2009, I attended his “Rules of Writing” which taught me more in 45 minutes than I learned in the preceding 25 years. His Plotting seminar explains, by example, how to develop a plot for a novel. 21 Days to a Novel explains how to do all the prep work necessary to write a novel, so that by day 21 you pretty much know what you want to write and how to organize it all. His greatest strength, for me, is that he is able to explain these creative activities as easy-to-follow processes… with relevant examples that bring the processes to live. If you want to write, it’s well worth the time and meager dollar investment to sit through one of his seminars. Great work, Michael! I look forward to seeing you at Origins or Gen Con next year. I know I’m not alone in saying I appreciate the time you take with us at the conventions.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:10 amSpeaking of Cons, thought I’d mention that the Star Wars Fan Days convention is coming up in Plano, TX in late October. You’ll probably still be getting over whatever plague you’re going to catch at DragonCon, but I thought it was worth bringing it up. Love Dragon Page Cover to Cover BTW.
August 20th, 2009 at 10:34 pmVery well said. You really should be the one to bash the politician’s heads together and make them see sense (I would pay to see that)
I live in Scotland so am lucky to have the NHS. While the NHS gets a lot of criticism and it is far from perfect, I have had mostly positive experiences with it (especially when I have really needed it) My son spent four days in hospital recently with breathing problems and he got great care.
In the UK you can get private health care if you wish, but I am so glad that I do not need to worry about having to get this in order to get health care.
I do hope that there is a positive outcome of the healthcare reforms proposal.
August 25th, 2009 at 5:42 pmMr. Stackpole, I’ve been a fan of your writing for some time. I’ve always appreciated the talent that some writers have to take the ephemeral notions we all share in our minds and give them verbal form.
There is something unmistakably genuine about what you’ve written here, and while I can’t say you’ve changed my mind, you have reminded me that things like this really do matter.
August 28th, 2009 at 11:02 pmThe last thing I expected to see when visiting your page was a rant about health care, but I’m glad for it.
You’re exactly right. Can you represent me in the Senate? lol
My brother-in-law is a very hard working surgeon and has a hard time paying back his student loans from medical school and supporting his family at the same time. It doesn’t help that his family tries to live above their means, but I think that a man who dedicates his life to saving the lives of others deserves a Playstation 3 if he wants one.
August 28th, 2009 at 11:49 pmI must differ with the idea of a ‘public option’ as a solution. I like your idea of a way to fund it, essentially taxing those who are most likely to use the service, but I fear that the costs of any system run by the government will spiral out of control. Will a public program put the insurance industry out of business? Not by a long shot. Medicare, the closest thing we have right now to a public option, is incredibly inefficient and patient hostile. Payments to physicians are so low that patients have difficulty finding doctors who will take them.there’s a reason that insurance companies can make money offering ‘Medicare plus’ plans. They operate far more efficiently. Yes they limit some patient choice, but not any more than Medicare does anyway. As a surgeon, I have far less difficulty getting procedure approved by an insurer than I do navigating the maze of medicare regulations regarding what is a ‘medically nescesary’ procedure. And forget about being responsive to changes in the patient’s or doctor’s situation. I have had patients wait YEARS to be reimbursed for Medicare errors. I personally went unpaid by medicare for six months because I had the temerity to change my billing address to a location different from my primary office. For the amount of money that will be spent on this ‘public option’ we could likely buy everyone in the country a good if not great commercial insurance plan. Insurance companies are an easy target right now but an objective look at their operations will show that the are much better at delivering care than Medicare. They make money by investing your premium, a hard thing to do in the last few months, which is why they are looking for even more efficiencies. They don’t take your premium and funnel it into the CEO’s pocket. Two sepatate money streams. Yes, they try to make a profit. That also means they look hard at how much they spend on administration and unneeded treatments. Why should we expect a government program for everyone to be better?
August 31st, 2009 at 11:11 pmAnd I’m going to argue that you equivocate too much in the beginning in an attempt to appear reasonable. The left isn’t really being too bad here. They have a sane, reasonable plan they’ve brought to the table. It will work if given the chance.
And then there’s the right, with its wailing and its gnashing of teeth and its repetitive, pervasive, and sickening lies.
Good call on bringing up Matthew 25. That’s a hard one to dodge, and it clearly shows the disconnect between Christianity and Conservatism.
A sin tax on unhealthy foods isn’t a terrible idea, but it should be considered that (unlike cigarettes) there are safe and unsafe quantities of potato chips. Especially as they are now often prepared with oils low in saturated fats, they can easily be incorporated (with moderation) into a healthy diet.
A flat tax per item would also unfortunately impact the $.99 grab-bag market, which is generally a healthier way to get your fried-food fix than the large $5 bag (which would now be even more cost-effective.)
Better would be to tie it to quantities of trans fat, of which there is no safe amount. It would be a financial burden on people so poor they are forced to rely on margarine to be sure, but the stuff’s frankly nasty in at least two senses of the word and the faster we drive it out of our supermarkets the better.
September 4th, 2009 at 1:34 pmMissed your “Writing Careers in the Post-Paper Era” session at GenCon! Arrgh. Really needed to hear it. Do you have it posted online anywhere in an article? Regards,
September 4th, 2009 at 9:13 pmbookzfan
I agree w/ Bruce Davis above. I like your idea on how to fund health care. I do not like the public option. Medicare and Medicaid have increased, not decreased, the cost of H.C. There’s no empirical evidence that suggests increasing public intrusion into H.C. reduces cost.
That said, I am for a safety net for those who cannot pay for their own care. I’m not a libertarian. I do believe society has an obligation to help those who cannot help themselves. But we need a better system of providing a way to pay for these things than the current methods, which are, quite frankly, bankrupting our country.
We cannot pay for the entitlement programs we have *now*. The entire entitlement system needs to be reworked. Not abolished, but revisited in total. But no politician will volunteer that, Bush trial-ballooned that in 2000 and it nearly torpedoed him. Like him or hate him (and I think he was savaged unfairly but did an underwhelming job) he was right to address that issue. The bottom line is, I don’t think a public option as its being bandied helps anyone though I agree we should do more to help those who are here legally.
SWG
September 7th, 2009 at 4:54 pmIts so true. My best friend and I have argued about this many times. Personally I totally support health care for all if most of Europe can successfully get away with it why can’t we?
September 8th, 2009 at 10:34 amI don’t have it posted anywhere (because any article would be out of date too quickly), but I will be giving it on 9/17 at the Changing Hands bookstore in Chandler, AZ; and I will give it again (updated) at Gencon next year. (I do often talk about stuff on the Dragonpage Cover to Cover podcast, and in The Secrets newsletter, so those are also places you can get information.)
September 8th, 2009 at 12:04 pmI thought Mike wrote a lot of books on his own; like “I Jedi” and “Fortress Draconus”. But according to your definitions above; an “*” means he contributed to the project and was not the sole author. What gives?
September 8th, 2009 at 6:07 pmJediBear wrote: “Good call on bringing up Matthew 25. That’s a hard one to dodge, and it clearly shows the disconnect between Christianity and Conservatism.”
I can see where this idea comes from, and while I don’t totally disagree, I think there is some perspective and clarification need when bringing Christianity into any discussion of government. It is true that Christians are commanded to care for the poor and the sick, and many of us have been doing just that in various capacities for last couple thousand years.
However, everything changes when you start talking about *government* doing something. Christianity also teaches “love your enemies” and “turn the other cheek,” but that doesn’t work practically when you’re facing a totalitarian dictatorship bent on conquest. This is a big reason that, as a Christian and a conservative (generally), I’m unhappy with the conflation of the two. I definitely think Christians should be involved in government and base their actions on their beliefs (after all, they’re not beliefs if you don’t act on them), I don’t like people using Christianity as a marketing tool.
So, that said, what does this have to do with health care?
We have to consider several factors. First, as Mike stated in his original post, we need find a way to bring down cost while providing people’s needs. Second, we have to consider if a national-government-sponsored solution is the best way to do this.
The second point is where I think the debate has failed. People forget that we have a written constitution for a reason: to limit the power of the national government. Arguing that we as a society need to provide health care is not the same as arguing that we need a national solution.
Nationally-provided health care is unconstitutional *not* because health-care isn’t a right (the Bill of Rights has never and does not limit our rights to those few amendments, per the 9th Amendment) but because the national government does not have the authority to enter that arena. It falls way outside the 17 enumerated powers and would require such a great stretching of the 18th power (the elastic clause) that it’s fairly ridiculous.
The key to all of this is the oft-neglected 10th Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Under the Constitution, health-care should be the realm of the individual and the states, not the national government.
September 11th, 2009 at 1:45 pmMike
As an Australian, I find the US health system and the subsequent debate about “Public Option” bewildering to say the least.
In Australia we have both public and private health care. Everybody is eligable for public, not everyone chooses to use it.
To fund this we pay a tax of .5% of your basic salary if you earn more then the threshold (I think the threshold is about $35k AU). If you earn more then $75k AU, and you don’t take out private insurance, you pay an extra 1% tax.
The idea is that the very low income earners don’t pay anything for health care, middle income earners pay a minimal amount, and high income earners who choose not to take out private insurance pay extra.
In practice this means that everyone, rich or poor has access to health care. Having (or not having) insurance only comes into it with regard to “elective” surgery. You can still get elective surgery for free, but there is a waiting list, or you can pay for it either out of your own pocket or from your insurance and get it done immediately.
The system certainly has its faults, but it also ensures we don’t (to use your example), have people, who after being hit by a car are refused treatment, or asked (in their semi comatose state) for the insurance details.
I do not understand why such a model, or similar is treated as one of the seven signs of the end of the world by you guys. I do not understand why cost is such a concern. We are talking about human lives here, both in quantity and quality.
I do wish you luck with getting the problem resovled. Sadly I don’t think you will. Your system seems be held hostage by too many groups each pushing (or holding) their own agendas to the exclusion of all others.
Michael
September 16th, 2009 at 12:11 amGood catch there… when we ported the old pages over, the bullet (•) became an asterisk(*). The cases where I’m a contributor to something, the asterisk follows the title. In the case of all the novels, they are 100% mine.
September 18th, 2009 at 9:15 amThat looks cool, Mike. I’ve been brainstorming Nanowrimo for a month now, and no good ideas so far. Extra cool that it’s in a library. I’m probably coming by.
October 9th, 2009 at 3:48 pmthat star wars thingy sounds pretty cool. Im going to have to look that up….i love star wars! good read too.
October 19th, 2009 at 3:54 pmI’m tempted by video and dvds every day. They appear from nowwhere. A fellow library employee moving to Hawaii heard me say I liked anime. Now I have a video tape of Akira–one of the true classics of Japanese animation. And it still sits in my desk drawer–2 months and counting. I’d love to watch it. Resist temptation? You bet! All I have to do is ask myself, when will you find time to watch it? I have the dvd set with all the Conan the Barbarian tv programs on them. I love Conan. Have I watched them all yet? Nope. 2 years and counting. I have 100 episodes of Tarzan on radio on a cd. I’ve listened to 4 of them and misplaced the cd. How do you resist temptation? Just ask yourself when you’ll ever have time to yield to it?
October 19th, 2009 at 3:56 pmThey’re only $65?! Thanks for passing that temptation on to ME now. Geez!
But yeah. There’s a fine line between temptation and being spoiled.
October 19th, 2009 at 4:49 pmI’m going to try and make this event, but my aging iMac G5 may prevent me. Last time I tried SL it was terribly slow but I’ve upgraded my internet service since then.
I’m doing Nano this year for the craze of it. My best word total in a month ever was 100k (written + edited). But that was a few years back and I want to prove to myself that I can do it again.
October 20th, 2009 at 8:42 pmI recently got into Second Life, largely because of the accounts of what you’ve been able to accomplish there, and I’m looking forward to this event. I really like what you guys have done in the Wind River Territory and look forward to taking full advantage of what’s going on there.
October 21st, 2009 at 8:11 pmI held three of these dollar coins in my hand yesterday and again marveled at the printing on the edge and the unique quality that that provided.
I also remember the first time I held one of these coins and had someone in the room proclaim, basically, the same as the email you received.
By the time they were yelling about this evil to the room at large, I had all ready noticed the writing (actually due to the absence of the mill marks which you referenced)and pointed out to them, actually quite kindly, that they were mistaken.
The rant continued that we were now hiding the text.
I suspected at that time that we would see capitulation on the side of the mint. I agree with you. It is a shame.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:39 amI think most people are absolutely indifferent to the dollar coin and whether it has god all over it or nowhere at all. Most people just ignore it regardless of what’s written on it. I’m more concerned with the utter inability of the American public to embrace the idea of using dollar coins rather than the inefficient paper alternative.
Dave
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:20 amHow about if we expand the Veterans medical system. I have used them for over sixteen years and have found them to be more than acceptable in general medical care.
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:22 pmI love that you’re actually *blogging* here now, Mike! Hope you keep it up. It’s nice to get updates. (yes, John Scalzi is spoiling us.)
I envy you this stage of your project; even here in science I find the research the best part. (I have a hard time stopping the research to actually, you know, write my lecture!)
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:01 pmPssst….Mike hates America….pass it on!
*runs away before he finds the nearest Pointy Object*
;-P
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:15 pmI have a fun (scary) story about the general ignorance regarding currency. I worked as a cashier in a hospital cafeteria for several years, surrounded by people with postgraduate degrees and on whose thinking skills lives often depended, yet you would not believe how often they’d pull a dollar or half dollar coin from their pockets, do a double take, examine it closely, and ask me tentatively, “Do you accept these?” I would patiently inform them that the coins were U.S. tender and that I had to accept them; they were legal and acceptable everywhere within U.S. borders. To have this happen even once or twice would have been astonishing, but it happened repeatedly.
On the other hand, it was better than the time one of the dietitians argued angrily with me that her Canadian dollar coin was too a fair exchange for her purchase. Sigh.
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:51 pmHow can you be sure that the mint bowed to public pressure? Given that I agree with your sentiments, I’m reluctant to believe anything easily.
I can only imagine what would happen here in the UK if the Queen’s head was removed. From the pound coin.
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:01 pmI wonder if they put the words back on the coin face because they’d wear off on the edge? (Not that that would hurt anything….) I’ve always found it interesting that the motto only showed up in 1956 as a result of the Communism scare in the 50’s — so people today aren’t even fighting about whether our coinage should reflect anyone’s religious values, but whether we should retain a tangible reminder of the mid-20th century’s irrational fears… though, of course, most people are more interested in getting worked up over an email hoax than investigating
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 amI seem to recall hearing–perhaps in an interview?–that you once did put yourself into one of your Battletech stories…and when the readers figured it out, they figured the character was safe. You promptly killed him off.
Or am I remembering incorrectly?
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:38 pmAwesome to finally hear about a new book! It sounds like a very cool setting as well.
Whatever happened to “In Hero Years I’d Be Dead”? Is that one of those projects that you mentioned sometimes do not get published?
if not, I hope you consider putting it up for sale on your site like you have your short fiction and Once A Hero.
October 24th, 2009 at 5:28 amI’ve begun to think that I don’t know anything till it does get written down so I’m glad to see you feel the ‘Write what you know” advice is a bit misleading.
It sounds as if by separating yourself from the characters (avoiding alter-egos) makes it easier to highlight the flaws that make them human (or alien).
October 24th, 2009 at 10:52 amWhen I got I, Jedi in hard cover, I knew it was a continuation of the X-wing series. I have to be one of the few then.
I’d like to think that some of the compassion and kindness of Nolan in Talion is a character trait of yours though. I have my reasons.
October 24th, 2009 at 11:13 amGreat analysis. And kudo’s to a marvelous promotional scheme from Doctrorow. Free is a great strategy for some, disastrous for others, and simply unfair to those who participate because they are given no choice.
Another element I would add in reviewing the usefulness of these results – Marketing concepts are continually evolving due to tech and taste. While Doctrorow may prove that Free is the right strategy this year, we all are faced with immediately looking to what will pay the bills next year.
October 24th, 2009 at 2:35 pmMike,
Excellent breakdown of the issues involved with Cory’s “experiment.” He’s certainly good at self-promotion, but his marketing efforts won’t show any of us the value of free e-book distribution. I’m definitely interested in knowing just how much free e-books do or do not affect actual book sales, and I look forward to someone actually providing data to this end.
As e-book reading gets easier and more booklike (Kindles, iPhones, etc. and their future improvements) I’d expect giving away your e-book to be a less and less viable business model, even assuming that giving it away now results in more hardcopy sales. The technology is changing the market rapidly, and today’s answers probably won’t be the same next year.
– Steve Peterson
October 24th, 2009 at 2:37 pmI agree with your analysis of the bias in this ‘experiment’. I do think that there is merit to the idea, at least for authors with a body of work and a fan base. I recall an article in Baen’s Universe a couple of years ago by Eric Flint where he cited sales of books for authors whose earlier works were posted in the Baen Free Library. They noticed a spike in sales of those books currently in print shortly after their backlist books were posted for free. Whether that would translate into sales of new books if an e-book version were offered free is the real question.
October 24th, 2009 at 4:04 pmYou’ve left out what I consider to be the biggest factor here: he is Cory Doctorow.
Now if this was Joe Schmoe, would PW have asked him to write a column? Would anyone ever even find his work somewhere in the online slush pile (as it were)?
It amuses me when people who are prominent to begin with delude themselves into thinking they are starting with the clean slate of someone who is totally unknown.
October 24th, 2009 at 6:11 pmYour last point gets to the heart of it, I believe. Non-established writers simply cannot afford the loss of focus and potentially of money that this would entail. Not to mention the fact that Cory Doctorow has also scored a negative loss advertisement every month with Pub Weakly (Sorry, couldn’t resist the pun) Good luck with getting a sweet deal like that, Joe Unknown. As with everything nowadays in mainstream publishing, it’s connections, connections, connections, and sometimes luck.
October 24th, 2009 at 7:49 pmBravo!
October 24th, 2009 at 11:06 pmMuch of this would be cleared up if Doctorow simply released his sales figures, or if Publishers Weekly reported on his bookscan sales. Assuming Doctorow knows his own sales history, the only explanation for why he never releases it is that it complicates the claims he’s making.
There is no doubt, as you’ve noted here, that Cory’s experiment isn’t scientific and any results he obtains won’t be objectively attained. The mere fact that he’s announcing the experiment and identifying the book(s) involved may bias the results, due to his fans learning about the experiment and buying copies to help his sales.
I have to admit, though, that I’m looking forward to both authors’ (Doctorow’s and Stackpole’s) upcoming articles. As someone who has both the urge to write and a full-time job, I can’t imagine myself dedicating the time and energy to promoting any novel I might write via a traditional print publisher, so I am curious to see how much money Doctorow makes via the various “packages” for his book. But I’m also quite curious to see how Mike would have conducted the experiment himself.
October 25th, 2009 at 1:48 amJust wanted to leave a note (since I couldn’t find an email address…) that while I was introduced to Michael A. Stackpole’s novels through Star Wars, I went on to read the Dragon Crown War novels which I absolutely loved.
Since I now work at a comic book shop, I picked up the first Rogue Squadron omnibus and the special 30th anniversary edition of “Union” so I can wax nostalgic by reading those and re-reading the Rogue Squadron novels.
I’m reading the newest Star Wars novel arc with Allston, Golden, and Denning but I still find myself missing Stackpole among the Star Wars books I read.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:24 pmDave said:
“I’m more concerned with the utter inability of the American public to embrace the idea of using dollar coins rather than the inefficient paper alternative.”
IMO it’s actually the inability of the mint to produce a practical dollar coin. Many people, consciously or not, identify their change by touch, and the new dollars are too close in size to the quarter. I dislike them myself, though I very rarely carry cash anymore.
October 25th, 2009 at 2:24 pm“For some reason folks think it’s okay to say to a creator of intellectual property that the product of our labors should be free; yet they never convincingly press that argument at a farmer’s market.”
This is because intellectual property is not legitimate property, whereas a farmer’s produce is. You might check out the following:
Stephan Kinsella, “The Case Against IP: A Concise Guide,” Mises Daily (Sept. 4, 2009)
Stephan Kinsella, Against Intellectual Property, Mises Institute (2008)
Roderick Long, “The Libertarian Case Against Intellectual Property Rights,” Formulations Vol. 3, No. 1 (Autumn 1995).
Michelle Boldrin and David K. Levine, Against Intellectual Monopoly, Cambridge University Press (2008).
October 26th, 2009 at 1:58 amI enjoyed this analysis very much, as I did Cory’s article, and look forward to more from both. But I think you misspeak to characterize the experiment as being one to test the hypothesis that giving away free ebooks increases the sale of physical books. I believe Cory would maintain that his previous publishing record indicates this, and that it was listed here for the benefit of introducing himself to PW readers who may not be aware of his beliefs/methods. I took this experiment to be one testing whether or not an author of his stature is better served going with or without a publisher. In which case, criticisms that this wouldn’t work for new authors are invalid. It is a response to those he describes when he says, “The True Believers are the people who say that I’m a fool to give 90% of the cover price of my books to the publisher and bookseller.”
However, I agree that Overclocked is a poor choice for comparison, since it was not given the publishing support that he received for other novels. Little Brother would be a better comparison, since it represents the kind of publishing support he could command NOW, or at least Makers, since it is his latest adult novel, and being given support in the form of weekly installments at Tor.com right now.
Regardless, I’ll enjoy his further articles and your further responses.
October 26th, 2009 at 10:22 amLou, you’d have a point about mischaracterization of the experiment save for two things. First, the overwhelming emphasis is on his contention that giving away free e-books works. Second, while he says he’s gathering evidence concerning the proposition that he’s giving away too much to the publishers, he has, de facto, set up an experiment that proves this proposition a priori. Heck, all writers know we give away too much to the middlemen, and that we can make more if we do it ourselves; however, we can’t do it the same way they do, we can’t get distribution into bookstores, and we can’t get as many copies out there as traditional publishers do. So, if he were going to test the idea that publishers take too much, he’d have to do all that they do (mass distribution) as opposed to running a boutique publishing operation. Will he make money? Absolutely. But will he make as much as he would have though a traditional publishing deal? Not unless his reports of “success” are, in reality a lot more modest than most believe.
October 26th, 2009 at 12:56 pm[...] recently announced an experiment to prove that giving away free ebooks works. Michael Stackpole responded with a deconstruction of Cory’s experiment. He makes a number of good points about the experiment, though I think [...]
October 26th, 2009 at 1:12 pmGeoffrey, thanks very much for the cites mentioned in your blog post concerning my blog post. It’s interesting material to study. I look forward to reading it more closely when I’m not on deadline.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:00 pmHey, even if writers are not their characters that doesn’t stop them from wanting to be them.
And there are quite a few examples of bad writing (Twilight, Eragon and the like) where the main characters are the writers or their imagined fantasies.
October 27th, 2009 at 7:27 am[...] Author Michael A. Stackpole asks Are Authors Really Their Characters? [...]
October 27th, 2009 at 11:35 amIt’s kind of refreshing to see someone of note poke a pin in yet another of Doctorow’s bags of gas.
If he’s so successful selling books, why does he need earnings from Boing Boing, speaking fees, column writing and (amusing to me) the “occasional grant, teaching gig or residency”—you know, opportunities available to ALL authors.
And I love how he bamboozled PW to PAY HIM to promote himself in the major industry magazine.
And let’s not even get into his writing. I won’t say he’s the worst writer around, but all that critical acclaim comes from his networks of friends and colleagues–track the names back to see the connections.
I stopped reading his columns and blog once I realized he has nothing original to say (mostly repackaging ideas by other people).
He is, however, an excellent self-promoter. That’s a very different skill than being a great, or even good, writer.
October 27th, 2009 at 11:20 pmThank you for posting that. I am not sure what I can do to help but I will do what I can. The stuff that he makes is really funky.
October 28th, 2009 at 7:08 am[...] Michael Stackpole on Cory Doctorow — Deconstructing ebooks. [...]
October 28th, 2009 at 7:59 amExcellent analysis, Mike. A skeptical approach here is key. I, too, look forward to seeing how all this turns out.
October 28th, 2009 at 9:48 am[...] “free” sells (an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one). Author Michael Stackpole spends some time Desconstructing Cory Doctorow’s “Experiment” and in all fairness also examines What is Cory Doing Right? Both posts are extremely interesting [...]
October 28th, 2009 at 10:38 am[...] some time Desconstructing Cory Doctorow’s “Experiment” and in all fairness also examines What is Cory Doing Right? Both posts are extremely interesting [...]
October 28th, 2009 at 11:12 amThanks so much for the support Michael, both at kickstarter and here on your blog. I’m just amazed at how many people care about this plight. It’s humbling and awe inspiring.
October 28th, 2009 at 4:32 pm[...] Michael A. Stackpole on Cory Doctorow’s book promo experiment. via Jay [...]
October 28th, 2009 at 8:02 pmWhile reviewing the articles cited in 1, have a look at Cleveland’s responses to Cole’s “Would the Absence of Copyright Laws Significantly Affect the Quality and Quantity of Literary Output?” in The Journal of Markets and Morality, Vol 4 No. 1, Spring 2001.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:26 pmI took from it that rather than the value of a book being in its manufacture, the value is in the scarcity of the ideas within, and the training and skill invested by the author.
I completely agree with you. I love making presents for birthdays and Christmas.
Last year I got some canvasses and made some pictures for people. It does not matter how it looks really, as a mess can become abstract art.
I think I will be making Christmas cards this year (as a photographer I have many pictures to choose from) I will have a look into what else I can make.
I think people appreciate homemade presents more than things that have been got from the shop or the Internet (I do)
Slightly off topic but sometimes it is a good thing not to have leaves falling. The other day when walking with my children through the wood. I fell on some leaf covered steps and dragged my son with me (I was holding his hand at the time) He had only just stopped crying from falling on some other leaves.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:58 amOuch! Sorry to hear about the leaf slips. I do like, however, the idea of making cards. I know I’ve also seen services that offer to take photographs and turn them into canvas paintings. The prices seemed reasonable to me. That might be another option for you.
October 29th, 2009 at 8:42 amsaw it on cracked didn’t you?
October 29th, 2009 at 10:53 amAs the link shows, the article was on Cracked. I think I got there via the Huffington Post, which linked to it for a bit. I thought it was very cool.
October 29th, 2009 at 4:15 pmWe often make candy for holiday gifts. Easy to make, easy to wrap, ship or transport! Chocolate covered pretzels, cherries, peanut butter balls, caramel pieces or plain nuts are a snap! One of my kids’ favorites is rice crispies cereal mixed with chocolate. Mix both cereal and melted chocolate in a bowl, and drop in spoonfuls onto wax paper and let set up. If you want prettier, you can sprinkle chopped nuts or gently press a few M&M minis into the top. We like to get different colors of chocolate so that we can carefully, using a fork, streak the tops of the chocolate crisps with red and green stripes and splatters. Yes, I am pretty sure that I have WAY more fun with this project than my kids do. lol.
Don’t forget to grab a couple of glass jars somewhere, and wrap a piece of ribbon around the top of each, fill with your home made goodies and not give them out as gifts for “emergencies”. Anytime we make homemade candy for gifts we put back a couple of packages/gifts for that inevitable surprise gift you always get. Then you can immediately reciprocate! You don’t feel guilty for not gifting that person and they are pleasantly surprised.
Your rum cakes sound good. Are they difficult to make?
October 29th, 2009 at 4:24 pmThank you. We are both feeling better now.
Thank you for the tips. I had seen canvasses from photographs advertised in one of my photography magazines (I got a free one when I subscribed to it) But I will be getting more as I think they are great.
There are also websites that will print out greetings cards from photographs as well. But you can also get kits from craft stores to make up funky cards.
One of my friends makes candles, and one year she made up presents of different scented candles and made them up into a basket with some other things (soaps, incense etc)
I will also be recycling my Halloween decorations as well this year. I am going to make this Christmas into a nightmare before Christmas themed one.
October 29th, 2009 at 5:38 pmGeoffrey Allan Plauché Says:
“This is because intellectual property is not legitimate property, whereas a farmer’s produce is.”
In that case, here’s some paper and some ink, if I’m feeling generous I’ll give you a random assortment of 800,000 letters, and you give me $8 for the property you are purchasing.
Oh, so it *is* the content you are purchasing, not just the paper and ink. Silly me.
October 29th, 2009 at 6:28 pmJohn, It was great to see your project get funded. I was happy to help. Any creative person could find himself in your plight, so working together to hold the bad guys off is not only a pleasure and duty, but a necessity. Mike
October 31st, 2009 at 1:47 amMr. Stackpole:
I noticed your remark about marketing for your new series, which is great.
However, and I want to make a caveat that you are in my top 3 favorite modern fantasy authors and own all your books and have read something like 35 of them?, I wanted to point out that YOU have been very remiss in marketing yourself via your website.
You have been more active lately, which is a nice change, but for the last 2 years, this site has been practically barren of any info on your writing career beyond the Secrets. You even blogged regularly, was it two years back?, about your novel you were writing that you seemed excited by, In Hero Years I’m Dead. However, since that time you have not updated or explained what happened to that project, nor have you updated your readers on your writing career with any regularity.
If you compare your site to say, a contemporary like RA Salvatore, your site just is not even close to his in terms of marketing himself. His site is always updated with pertinent information about future projects, so that his fan base is always assured that a new book is coming, and making sure they aware of availability of said projects.
Before your recent update about the Crown Colonies, I was starting to wonder if you were even continuing to write novels. All of your work since the latest Mechwarrior has been short fiction I believe? I bought many of those and while I enjoyed the stories, I really could not agree with the pricing model. I could, and did, purchase your Perchance to Dream short story collection and get more pages and stories for the same price or cheaper (not to mention the nice Hardcover instead of reading on a CPU or crappy copier paper) as purchasing your various short fiction available at this site.
I know you are very much into the online and self-publishing model, and I fully support that, but why not put a novel like In Hero Years I’m Dead up for sale on your site as your did Once A Hero if it is not going to be published?
What about that 10,000 word Merlin Bloodstone novel you have written but could not get a publisher for? Why is that not available at the site (is it?), or for that matter, whatever happened to the Talion sequel you once mentioned you had an idea for and would write when the first Talion was able to sell another 5 to 10000 books and surpass 100,000 books sold (that seemed like a lock, that number was so long ago)?
I am greedy, I want to be assured that you are an author I can count on for more books on a semi-regular basis. It would disappoint me greatly to think that one of my favorite authors rarely writes books anymore!:(
I honestly very much believe that your would do yourself a great service by keeping up to date with all your various projects via your site, making it a more reliable source of information about your career.
I really do anticipate any new projects or new material you are working on or even unpublished older stories you are making available on your site, Mike, and I really really hope you continue to write more of your excellent novels, and as many as possible!!
Thank you for your work and for listening to my suggestions
sincerely,
Timothy
October 31st, 2009 at 4:23 amCan I demand photos of Mike In A Tux??
October 31st, 2009 at 2:13 pmI have photos, we will work on getting them up on the site.
November 1st, 2009 at 2:02 amGreat reports, that sounded like it was a lot of fun.
I am looking forward to seeing you in a tux. And for what it is worth, I think you look great normally (well you do in the pictures that I have seen of you so far)
November 1st, 2009 at 10:05 amBetter than Belgian chocolate?! Now the Belgians are not going to let you go back ;-P
And you look great all the time! Though I still wanna see the pictures!
November 1st, 2009 at 4:16 pmThat sounded like you had a really funky weekend.
Though it is not just a guy thing. A couple of years ago I also met up with a friend that I had like you not seen for about 10 years. Again like you, it was like we had only met up the day before.
That is great that you feel energized from it all. It is indeed very funky when this happens. May that feeling last a long time.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:20 pmMike, it was a fun dinner… I look forward to seeing how things develop. I foresee interesting times ahead for publishing, and for those that can surf the wave of change, good times will follow.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:44 pmI think the whole “perfect is the enemy of finishing the first draft” concept is the most important thing you can learn from NaNo. If you don’t know, just throw something out there. Worst case scenario, you rewrite it later.
I had to finally win a NaNo to understand that, and I wouldn’t be surprised for any would be writers who’ve never finished a story before if that’s the hardest part for the vast majority. Editing is always a dangerous siren’s call when the book isn’t done yet. After all do you know what needs to stay and go if you don’t have “The End” down yet?
Will be fun to follow your blog and see how the book is going.
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:50 am“For some reason folks think it’s okay to say to a creator of intellectual property that the product of our labors should be free; yet they never convincingly press that argument at a farmer’s market. This is perhaps because more farmers carry shotguns than do writers.”
Mike, you’re comparing apples to e-books again.
An e-book is not similar to produce. Its value was produced once, needs never be produced again, and has no associated continuing cost. How, then, may we morally justify charging the public a continuing cost for access after the writer’s work has once been fairly paid?
Copyright is for the nonce a necessary evil — a superior model has yet to emerge — but never forget that it is an evil, as it picks the pocket of the reader and constrains the writer.
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:08 pm“Copyright is for the nonce a necessary evil — a superior model has yet to emerge — but never forget that it is an evil, as it picks the pocket of the reader and constrains the writer.”
Um, excuse me? Would you like to explain how copyright constrains writers please?
Last I checked, it allowed a writer freedom to distribute their work however they pleased, from giving it away for free to trying to earn money off it. So, I’m quite curious about the constraint here.
November 3rd, 2009 at 4:10 pmWhat? being sociable for 16 hours in a row is a strain for you? I don’t believe it. Glad you had a good time at the Con. 3 days into the month, and I’m on pace. Averaging closer to 1500 words a day than 1700, but I’m doing another 500 to 1000 on T & T stuff that has to be done. You’ll be doing as much if you’re blogging every day.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:01 pmI’m sticking to your advice on not rewriting. I found missing words on my first print outs. I know I thought the ends of those sentences, but somehow they didn’t get typed. I’ll fix them later.
I finished reading this and then tabbed to the Sydney Morning Herald website to see the Argleton story pop in as the main headline. Coincidence?
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:49 pmI recall hearing that every page of a street directory will have one bogus street as a copyright measure (they mention that in the story too).
Okay, that’s about 50 words and a start for the day.
Interesting if you go to satellite view of Argleton.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:59 pm#6 — The rights given by copyright are exclusive. So if (for example) Mike writes something and protects it with copyright, he is not unduly constrained regarding it, but any of his readers who might be writers in their own right are.
Copyright constrains other writers, by granting the copyright holder the power (and in some ways giving him the responsibility) to stop others from creating derivative works. It thus essentially constrains all writers, in limiting their freedom to read, collaborate, and teach without the threat of litigation.
Because it creates a monopoly over characters, situations, ideas, even potentially entire sub-genres, copyright can be very damaging to the overall creativity of society.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:01 amI have yet to hear or see a convincing case made where copyright of a literary work has in any way hindered or damaged the “overall creativity of society.” I have yet to see a case where a “sub-genre” of fiction has been limited by threat of litigation. The whole idea of prior-restraint is already illegal, and if it can be showed to be true, then the restraints would be removed.
As for the previous point about writers not having ongoing costs associated with their work, this is false. If I am making the work available via a website, I have the cost of maintaining that website. Moreover, I may have gone into debt to produce that work, therefore debt service would be a continuing cost of that work. On top of that, if my story is one in a continuing series, my work on that property never ends, and another writer usurping my story materially and manifestly hurts my ability to work with a property I’ve created.
Copyrights do not stifle or constrain creativity. They stifle, constrain and frustrate the lazy who would make money off the ideas of others.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:46 pmThanks for responding, Mike.
There’s a lot going on here and I’m afraid I’m going to have to write a bit of a novel to answer all of it, so please bear with me.
First, let’s conside the middle portion, since it relates to my original comment and is distinct from the preceding and succeding discussion. I’ll come back to that in a bit.
“As for the previous point about writers not having ongoing costs associated with their work, this is false. If I am making the work available via a website, I have the cost of maintaining that website. Moreover, I may have gone into debt to produce that work, therefore debt service would be a continuing cost of that work.”
Let’s make sure the goalposts are firmly set here so that neither of us can be accused of moving them. I was talking about per-unit costs of production. That would be any cost that needs to be paid for each unit sold. For a dead-tree book already written, these are the labor, material, etc. costs of actually printing the book. For an e-book already written, this is measured only in clock-cycles required for a copy process — conceptually valulable, but functionally trivial.
Now, to the costs you mentioned: Maintaining a website is a cost of distribution and (if you’re doing it right) promotion, but not of production.
Debt happens, but once a debt is paid it is not a continuing cost. It is not a per-unit production cost, but rather a fixed (if perhaps unpredictable) overhead expense.
Now, these are costs that must be paid by someone, but they don’t need to be paid on a per-unit basis, because they aren’t per-unit costs. Considering them helps determine rather what we would consider “fairly paid.”
“The whole idea of prior-restraint is already illegal, and if it can be showed to be true, then the restraints would be removed.”
Prior restraint may lie outside the power of the US government as defined in its constitution, but the threat of litigation after the fact does not constitute prior restraint. As such, that argument is a red herring.
“I have yet to hear or see a convincing case made where copyright of a literary work has in any way hindered or damaged the “overall creativity of society.” ”
Since there are no cases for comparison, the subject is perhaps entirely a matter of opinion, with no opinion being demonstrably wrong.
Consider, though, that no few writers take inspiration from other writers and that copyright has at times been used by persons other than the original writer to make a work unavailable in certain markets or even entirely.
“I have yet to see a case where a “sub-genre” of fiction has been limited by threat of litigation.”
This is an argument from ignorance — a logical fallacy. The fact that you have not seen something does not demonstrate a lack of its existence.
Any work too similar to an existing work faces a threat of litigation, and when that work is a pioneering one, creators must take great and otherwise unnecessary pains to distance their new work from it. The greater injustice is that even these efforts may not be sufficient, as the copyright holder may elect to sue anyway.
And then there’s fan-fiction. To argue that the makers of fan-fiction are not creative people and even occasionally brilliant writers is to admit that you don’t read fan-fiction, and yet the genre is composed almost entirely of unauthorised derivative works. It doesn’t stop people from writing them, but perhaps it should, as they can be fined for their efforts in some jurisdictions.
“On top of that, if my story is one in a continuing series, my work on that property never ends,”
It must logically end at some point as you are not immortal. Some writers even terminate continuing series after they have reached a planned conclusion. I am aware of several properties of authors both living and dead that are at present lying fallow and that those authors (especially the dead ones) have no further plans for, and yet which are still agressively protected by copyright.
“and another writer usurping my story materially and manifestly hurts my ability to work with a property I’ve created.”
Perhaps, but you would have the same freedom to compete using characters and situations imagined by others. Further, you still have an air of authenticity which gives you a competitive edge. Meanwhile, while the assertion may seem sensible on the surface, it’s actually impossible to determine if such competition would actually damage your efforts.
If I can write a better Star Wars than George Lucas, why don’t I have a right to profit from it, as I would if I made a better mousetrap based on an existing design?
November 5th, 2009 at 4:51 amIf I follow your arguments, I am left with certain conclusions:
1) My costs cannot be broken down into “per unit expenses” because you conclude they should not be. Last I checked, I can account for my expenses in any manner I wish, distributing them as I need.
2) Fair compensation is going to be a sticky point that we will never agree upon. I indicate that I have research and development costs that must be accounted for and you’ll dismiss them likely as being unreasonable. The important point, however, is differentiating what I could be earning from a story, what I should be earning, and what I will be earning. Realistically, the value of a story is what people will pay for it, and the current system for determining that value is based on copyright and my control of my creative output.
3) While you choose to dismiss my challenge of your statement that copyright inhibits creativity because I note that I know of no cases of no cases where this has happened, you refuse to point to a single case that supports your contention. You are the one who is making the extraordinary claim here, you need to provide cases to support it.
4) Your argument “If I can write a better Star Wars than George Lucas, why don’t I have a right to profit from it…” falls flat. It is the same argument that could be used to justify stealing a wallet because it would look better in your pocket than in that of the original owner. It’s nonsense, and simply predicated on the idea that somehow Intellectual Property does not exist. But, because copyright and patent are part of the Constitution, they do exist and define Intellectual Property.
5) The fan-fiction argument is a non-starter. Fair-use exceptions to copyright law are clear. If people are doing the work for their own edification, in the process of learning to write, and they do not sell the work, they’re covered. Likewise educational uses and reproductions of work are covered.
And if people step outside those bound and jeopardize the rights of the originating authors, they should be dealt with in whatever manner is necessary to protect the originating author’s rights.
6) The argument that works and an authors interest in them must terminate at some point isn’t wrong, but it’s an argument on the limits on copyright, not an argument for the abolition of same. I agree. Having copyright in force forever is silly. It’s just a question of how long we want to allow it to remain in force.
It’s important to remember that when patents and copyrights were created, we were in a pre-industrial age. Creators didn’t have a big R&D debt load and were craftsmen. Now that intellectual property is being dealt with on an industrial scale, the laws may need to be modified.
Ultimately, however, unless you can support your contention of inhibition of creativity and culture by cases, the discussion can really go no further. You argue from an assumption that is unproved. Until someone sues a copyright holder or a patent holder over restraint of creativity and wins, this argument remains an interesting thought experiment, but little more.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:13 amI have been a diehard fan of your writing and RPG works since the late ’80s. However, I’m not in favor of the mandatory Public Option that Congressional Democrats such as Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi are trying to shove down our throats. Federal health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid ended up costing taxpayers much more than Democrats originally budgeted, and I don’t think the federal Public Option will work any better. I’ve already had problems dealing with existing health and human services bureaucracies: waiting times are usually twice what they tell you on the phone before you arrive in the crowded waiting areas, and today I actually had to wait 30 minutes just to have my case worker and doctor authorize my prescription drugs. You also seem to confuse Libertarians with Objectivists in terms of their attitudes toward indigent people; have you taken the World’s Smallest Political Quiz at to see where you fit on the Nolan Chart?
November 5th, 2009 at 4:43 pmOkay may seem like a stupid question…but about how many words are in a normal chapter for you?
November 5th, 2009 at 11:44 pmI’ve been avoiding your NaNo posts because I was worried about feeling inadequate. Surprisingly, checking in today has the opposite effect. I’m not up to your word count (11,304 as of the end of Thursday), but I do find myself with some of the same problems. Aside from the day job, I record a podcasts on Wednesdays, and cover high school football on Friday nights. Both are time sinks.
I’ve had to cut a lot of activities from the sked to make my goals of 1,700 per day on weekdays and 2,000 per day on weekends. Unfortunately, Second Life has been one of those cuts. I just started attending your talks (I’m Mausworth), but the few that I did put me in a great place for NaNo. Many thanks to you.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:59 pmReading a successful writer’s struggles with getting writing done really helps those of us just starting out. This is definitely something I’ve been struggling with recently, but this has inspired me to really work at getting some writing done. Thanks!
November 6th, 2009 at 12:13 am1) No, they are not per-unit costs because they are not dependent on the number of units produced. You went into the same amount of debt and invested the same quantity of intellectual, temporal, and physical resources in creating a work whether you sell ten copies or ten thousand or ten million.
2) I think you’d be surprised what costs I’d be willing to allow you in consideration of fair compensation. I’ve never argued that writers should not be appropriately and handsomely compensated for their work, only that the current system does that in an increasingly unfair and unrealistic way.
You’ll note that you are increasingly competing with free content. In all seriousness, good luck with that.
3) Actually, we’re both making claims (mine that copyright does some harm is no more extraordinary than yours that copyright does no harm) which are extremely difficult to quantify. It’s a fair point (which you now make but didn’t before) that I made an unjustified assumption, but you still made an argument from ignorance. We both lose. Love all.
4) Again, you confuse physical property with intellectual property and morality with law.
Stealing a wallet deprives its owner of its use. No such deprivation can happen here, as George Lucas remains free to write a better Star Wars than me.
If I can write a better Star Wars than George Lucas, then I am a better writer than he is, a better entertainer, a better creator, and by all rights I should be properly rewarded for that. Copyright constrains me from this.
Just because something is enshrined in the US Constitution does not make it right.
5) Only in fair-use jurisdictions, and only as long as fair use continues to hold. Fair Use is an exception to copyright that recognizes a known harm that copyright does and attempts to mitigate it, but it is far from universal, reliable, or consistent.
6) The question is then at which point those interests should terminate and why. It quickly becomes clear to me that any value we could assign would be wholly arbitrary. The only reason we can say why they should not terminate immediately is because the writer would not then be fairly compensated for his work, but even that can be a hard line to find.
Consider the following:
If a major pharmaceutical company sinks millions into creating a pill that will save the world from a debilitating disease, they can patent it and then they have five years of monopolistic price-gouging to recoup their expenses on the backs of the desperately ill.
If a writer creates a novel at the expense of little or nothing more than his own labor, he can copyright it and then have the entire remainder of his life (plus, what, sixty years?) to use the same sort of monopolistic behavior to recoup his costs against the budgets of his readers.
Now, it seems to me that we allow far too much time under copyright as-is, and I’d be much happier if copyrights were limited to the same five years as patents.
“Ultimately, however, unless you can support your contention of inhibition of creativity and culture by cases, the discussion can really go no further. You argue from an assumption that is unproved. ”
In truth a single case would suffice, and I mentioned a few, but since we are dealing with such subjective terms as “creativity” and “culture,” what seems obvious to me might in fact be an impossible sell to you.
As it is, I think we’ve both spent too much uncompensated time on this, and I’d rather have you working than debating the morality of IP with me. I guess you can even say you won if you like.
Cheers.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:21 amThat’s not a blog. It’s a commercial for yout talk tonight. I admit it would be interesting to attend, but you’ll be starting before I even get off work.
November 6th, 2009 at 2:36 pmAh, Ken, I just cut and pasted the Mensa announcement for the talk. The bloggy part was the introduction.
And there will be more blog later.
November 6th, 2009 at 4:40 pmYour metawriting always fascinates me. Keep up the good work.
November 6th, 2009 at 9:42 pmThanks for the tips!:)
Btw, how can we add you as a writing buddy?
November 8th, 2009 at 6:45 pmEraser: Let me guess, couch cushions?
In six days I added just over 25,000 words to the manuscript.
Impressive. Most impressive.
it’s backed up on a thumb drive so I won’t lose it in case of a crash.
I don’t know if you are in the market for one such, but if you are, I can unreservedly recommend a LaCie external hard disk. I have a 160 GB one—it’s small, like one of those Western Digital Passport ones that they sell at Best Buy—that I bought nearly two years ago, and I have all but used it as a hockey putt in the intervening time. It’s still working perfectly.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:51 amI don’t know how to let anyone add me as a writing buddy. I am assuming I’d have to be officially registered with NaNoWriMo. I’m not. Given the workload I’m hitting with this project, I can’t participate in the the community in any serious way.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:11 pmNope, not in couch cushions. Nothing under them, but then I don’t think I’ve sat on my couch much in the last month.
Thanks for the recommendation on the Lacie. I have one of their desktop drives and I like it a lot. Since I’ll only be backing up a few files, the thumb drive will work for the moment (or I could just save them to my webserver, I guess) but they will be backed up, which is the most important thing.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:19 pm…wait, isn’t this novel set during the Revolutionary War? I don’t think changing the map is allowed!
November 9th, 2009 at 10:15 pmThe political situations and pressures are analogous to the Revolutionary War, but this is another (distantly parallel) world. so I can change the world. Just takes a really big bulldozer.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:24 amSo just based on your comments, your “usual novel” runs about 100,000 words? most of them have clocked in at around 400+ pages, so does that mean that this one, which sounds more like in the 50,000 word range, is going to be more like 200-250 page range?
what kinds of sacrifice do you have to make to create a setting, over the course of three books and novellas as well as short stories you have mentioned, when you are only allowing yourself half the page space as, say, the Dragoncrown War Cycle?
November 10th, 2009 at 2:36 amAh, one point I’ve not made… Coming into November I already had 50,000 words in on the novel. The target length for this book is 150,000 words, and I just hit 80K.
Pages are never a good indicator of page length because type size, line spacing and layout will affect the size of the book. Compare, for example, a paperback and a “large print” version of the same book. Word count in the measure. (But, just for your reference, the old Doc Savage novels used to run 50K words, and in paper came in at 125-150 pages depending on type size.)
The DragonCrown War books all came it at 200,000 words or more. Still, there’s no sacrifice in world development. You use and explain the elements that matter to the story. If you have more room, you could add more elements, but the critical thing is that stories revolve around characters. No matter the length, you only use what is vital to the character’s developing growth arcs.
For huge books with tons of world development, I recommend the work of Steven Erikson. Massive tomes and really good.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:54 amI should add that I’m not opposed to a voluntary Public Option, just like the U.S. Postal Service is the voluntary public option for parcel delivery. I’m simply against the “individual mandate”, i.e. mandatory coverage achieved by forcing individuals to join. There are roughly 45 million uninsured Americans; how many of that number would join the Public Option voluntarily, and how many are independently wealthy people who prefer to pay their own bills out-of-pocket? [These are some of the real issues I have with Pelosi, Rangel, Kucinich, et al.] Finally, don’t confuse Objectivists with Libertarians in their attitudes toward indigent people; have you taken the World’s Smallest Political Quiz at TheAdvocates.org to see where you fit on the Nolan Chart?
November 10th, 2009 at 8:27 pmI’m sorry to hear about your hands, Michael. I’ve struggled with tendonitis, thanks to lugging my son around, so I understand, some. I wish I had some words of wisdom, but I’ll just wish you the best as you try to work through the pain. We all appreciate the words you put out there!
November 11th, 2009 at 3:08 pmThis is why you’re a bestselling author and I’m just a shmoe…’cuz I’m just thinking “shiny! free printer!” (…after checking with my neighbors first to make sure it wasn’t just delivered to the wrong house)
November 13th, 2009 at 1:15 pmJust thought I’d leave a note here to show my appreciation…
I just started reading your blogs a couple of weeks ago, but WOW am I enjoying them! You always have something interesting to say, and it’s very cool to read a “real” author as he uses Nanowrimo to get a novel done (or partly done)!
November 15th, 2009 at 1:23 amI’ve read some of your work, too, although mostly the Star Wars stuff…it’s very excellent!
[...] Author Michael Stackpole gives an interesting technique to help you become a better writer with his post Analyzing Writing. [...]
November 18th, 2009 at 11:18 amI couldn’t agree with you more.
I’m a Windows system administrator by day. Others in my division specialize in backup and recovery, security, networking, application development, etc. When I interact with these people, I try to analyze the answers they give me and the thought processes behind those answers. Understanding how an expert gets to an answer can help you learn to think in different ways or approach a future problem from a different angle.
The most difficult form of analysis, I think, is looking at your own work (writing or otherwise) and reverse engineering your own thought processes and techniques. Doing this can help you understand how and why you make certain mistakes, perhaps generating ideas to help you avoid making them again.
I’m learning as I get older and (hopefully) wiser that I’m fortunate I’ve always had an analytical nature. For example, it’s not enough for me to know that flipping a light switch brightens the room I’m in. I want to know where the light comes from, what the switch does, where the electricity comes from, how it’s generated, etc.
For some reason, I never tried to analyze writing until recently. Perhaps that’s the influence you’ve had on me. I’ve learned a great deal from you already and look forward to learning more. I used your “21 Days to a Novel” (at a greatly accelerated pace) to help me prepare for NaNoWriMo, and am further into this novel than I’ve managed to get on any past novel writing attempt. Thank you for that. You ARE helping people like me, even if you’re mostly doing it for your own craft.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:22 amThe idea pops up and I think, “Oh, now that is just nasty!” which means I know you will all love it (or hate it, either works).
*raises face to sky, fists clenched* MIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!
November 19th, 2009 at 12:29 amI thought about going over to see Larry Correia, but didn’t. I have written a fairly lengthy book review of Monster Hunter International available at http://atroll.wordpress.com
November 20th, 2009 at 9:10 pmI am glad that you had a good day. Hopefully you will not run into any problems with having the extra words.
Keep up the good work
November 21st, 2009 at 10:56 amCongratulations on the progress that you have made, (LOL that you wrote some extra words so you were not left with 66,666) and well done for getting Christmas presents made as well.
I like making presents but sadly I am not able to make Christmas presents this year (I am actually beginning to look forward to Christmas…well apart from the 10 hour train journey I will need to take with three small children)
Have fun shopping
November 23rd, 2009 at 2:19 pmKust finished A Secret Atlas. Enjoyed it immensley. What comes next in the sequence of novels?
November 24th, 2009 at 9:46 am$665.90 is the WalMart price of the Beast. }:>
And how fitting is it that “The Man, the Author, the Evil Overlord” got that price? VERY.
I’m also amused at you making presents. I have an image of you with knitting needles.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:50 pmThe next book is Cartomancy, followed by The New World, which finishes that series.
November 25th, 2009 at 1:51 amMr Stackpole, your recent posts have been inspiring. I’m a first time novelist fresh out of art school with my first book deal. It’s refreshing to see an author I’ve enjoyed pointing out that a huge part of writing consists of doing the hard work of sitting in front of a word processor and putting words together.
That said, you’re a lot more prolific than me. I can write 2000 words on a good day.
Happy Thanksgiving.
November 25th, 2009 at 7:04 pmHappy birthday (a few days early)! *\o/*
As for the Cthulu psalm…*backs away slowly*
November 26th, 2009 at 2:03 am[...] This post was Twitted by jeanettemarsh [...]
November 26th, 2009 at 6:27 am[...] Artists and generally all round creative people. New York Times Best Selling author Mike A. Stackpole holds office hours at which you can ask him questions about writing and how he markets his [...]
November 27th, 2009 at 9:01 amHappy Birthday Mike!
glad to hear you are churning out the words, looking forward to the new book/series
November 28th, 2009 at 2:11 amHappy Birthday!
November 28th, 2009 at 11:35 amI am sorry I missed your birthday. A happy belated birthday
I hope you had a really funky day 
November 29th, 2009 at 12:47 pmOops I forgot to add this to the last post :/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40K2S0-5Xo0
November 29th, 2009 at 12:49 pmCongratulations on getting so much done. Keep up the good work
November 29th, 2009 at 12:54 pmGreat job! It’s been very motivating to read your posts as you work through this project.
November 29th, 2009 at 1:34 pmI recall you keep most of this in your head while writing though I have been wondering; with all these action lines, viewpoints, etc, do you ever draw diagrams or jot down notes to keep everything straight?
[...] Mark and I discuss some of the possibilities for long-form comics in new media, inspired by the latest episode of Michael A. Stackpole’s The Secrets podcast. His thoughts on prose dovetail very nicely [...]
November 29th, 2009 at 3:39 pmJust hit 50K to “win” my first NaNoWriMo. I attended the NaNo Sprinting lecture in SL just before the start and it really helped. More than anything else, it helped me keep things in perspective. Thanks for dropping a little knowledge to help all us wannabes.
November 30th, 2009 at 12:14 amI also saw the Decipher card and while I knew that it was you, McRandle, and Zahn playing your respective characters; I thought they should have gotten a much younger model/actor to play Corran (no offense). But even though the writer may put a little part of himself/herself into the characters they created, does it bear in mind that you put yourself into the other characters of Star Wars that you created? Like Gavin Darklighter or even Tycho Celchu?
November 30th, 2009 at 7:50 pmA younger actor? Perhaps that shot was just of Corran when he was my age when the picture was taken. (Like in the NJO series.)
None of me in Tycho or Gavin, alas. Both were constructs designed to fill a role.
November 30th, 2009 at 9:16 pmMike.
I am glad you made your goal! And I have to tell you I am thrilled to hear you so excited about writing again. The thought of you churning out voluminous amounts of new books and stories is just a dream come true.
You can count on my patronage and big mouth to promote anything new you have in store for us. I have already turned a couple of friends onto your work, and one other who re-discovered your work, he had been a big Battletech fan back when!
I salute you sir and thank you for your fine work, keep it up!
and if you ever find a way to release In Hero Years…I’m Dead, I know you will have five copies sold from this guy here. Your books have made fine gifts, and well appreciated at that!, in the past.
December 1st, 2009 at 5:00 amIt’s called “Indie Author”, actually
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:20 amI decided to go indie with my commercial, professionally produced book for a few reasons, the main one being I see the shift in the industry, and I’d rather be in charge of my own destiny and control my own career/business rather than leave it in the hands on someone else. That, and you’re absolutely right, they’re not taking chances anymore, so why not take it into your own hands and do it yourself?
There’s no marketing/promo budget any more (esp not for new authors) … the differences between going traditional vs. going indie are becoming a very short list.
Self-publishing is a four-letter word. People need to realize that the only ones who care about the publisher name are other writers, and not readers. The market will decide what’s good and what isn’t.
The term I’ve been using lately, Mike, is “Author Direct.” The idea I’m trying to communicate with the term is that it’s “inferior” in the same sense that an organic, heirloom-variety, farm-bought tomato is inferior to one of those round, pinkish, machine harvested things you find by the pallet-load at the mega-mart.
No, I’m not really saying that “author direct” publishing is better. But like the farm-bought stuff it’s exciting, undiminished by the demands of large-scale commerce, and close to the source.
Yeah, farmers markets sell rotten tomatoes too. Shopping outside the big-box-store puts more demands on the buyer to be an educated an careful shopper. But there are great treasures and pleasures to be found for those discerning enough to appreciate them.
Does it sound like I’m being a little snooty here? Does it sound like I’m saying our direct-buy readers are just a little smarter, more refined, cooler, and yeah, just a little BETTER than everyone else?
Yeah, I might be trying to communicate that too.
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:04 amMy wife and I run a small run press and publishing company, with retail and amazon distribution; and it was VERY easy to set up.
The trick to getting distribution is simple: offer standard trade discount, and turnback. If you do that, distribution is a non-issue. Any distributor will work with you.
Of course, in order to do THAT, you need to be able to print for reasonable rates. Given the new digital small run presses, inexpensive digital pre-press, and low cost small run binding setups; that is also a non-issue.
Our equipment cost us about $5,000, for full color (solid ink process); and it’s economical for runs of up to about 1000 copies, at which point contracting out with a larger fulfillment house starts to come down in price.
We don’t do any of our straight standard size, no graphic, B&W text printing; we contract it out. The fulfillment houses can get below $0.02 a page, bound and shipped; we can’t (minimum is about $0.04).
However, our minimum stays at $0.04 including color and graphics; whereas the contract printers go up to about $0.14 a page minimum (for runs below 1000 anyway).
Also, again because of low cost small run equipment, we can do alternate bindings (coil, comb, layflat, etc…) FAR cheaper.
All of these things allow us to maintain a small but viable market, and to be competitive.
We operate on a strictly profit share basis with our authors. No exclusive contract, no advances, and authors hold their own copyrights; but we do the editing, format layout and markup, and the printing and distribution work, on our dime (and we own the layouts, so they can’t just take our work to another printer). We split the profit on each run based on what we negotiate.
We also of course contract publish. Mostly business manuals, technical manuals etc…
Actually just in general, mostly we do cookbooks, technical manuals, political texts, small run/custom textbooks, gaming books and manuals etc… Basically, stuff where our economies allow us to be competitive compared to the big guys.
We actually got into the business because we had a contract to publish our cookbook, which fell through (the company ran into trouble and tried to renegotiate us to half the rate, or they couldnt afford to publish us. We refused).
Then we looked at the various self publishing and contract priting options with existing companies, didn’t like what we saw (or how much they wanted to charge us for color, and alternate bindings), and started doing the research for how to do it on our own.
Other than contract printing, we’ve got one original book out the door, and half a dozen in the pipeline for next year; and we were profitable INCLUDING the cost of equipment, on the very first print run.
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 amVertically integrated publishing? That’s not a term I can get behind. Sounds corporate. Or legal. Or a strategy existing pubs might use. Maybe distributors would like it.
Outside of a sci-fi audience, I think a term like that is too much for most people to remember or engage. “Vertically integrated” doesn’t make one want to support an author or curl up with a book.
Author Direct is a good way to describe how it works. Indie Publishing is also good. I think most folks like supporting an underdog and dealing with an artist or small publisher directly. Indie is already used in music, so a lot of people are familiar with the term and what it means.
Seems like it would be easier to flee the self-pub stigma without having to teach new terminology.
December 3rd, 2009 at 4:18 pmDirect to Reader Publishing is a nice phrase, too.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 pmAs a T&T fan who has never read your newer work, it’s a pleasure to read this.
December 5th, 2009 at 2:14 pmAs good as Kuttner was, Mrs. Kuttner (C. L. Moore) was even better. Check out Paizo/Planet’s collection of her Northwest Smith stories. For more than 40 years now, whenever my sensawonder needs a shot of adrenaline I pick up a Northwest Smith story and I’m fine 20 minutes later.
December 6th, 2009 at 1:03 pmMike,
I agree: C. L. Moore rocks. I’ll definitely snag the Northwest Smith collection. Thanks for reminding me of it.
December 6th, 2009 at 5:27 pmA male drama queen? Ohmigosh, I’m so going to use that word now. You, sir, are brilliant.
December 6th, 2009 at 11:06 pmOne thing that I always admire about you is the way you can make an activity multitask. I love the way you use your time in Second Life to play, teach and entertain.
I am going to print out your list for farming and put in my studio. It is a good goal for every piece of artwork also.
Thank you,
Rennata, aka Mira.
December 7th, 2009 at 2:57 pm[...] Michael A. Stackpole, had a wonderful post on his blog called What’s Next. It touches on the “popular image of writers is that we’re urbane and live lives of [...]
December 9th, 2009 at 8:46 am[...] for sale. I have been participating in a number of discussions on the subject of “Vertically Integrated Publishing.” The goal being to cut out the middleman to lower our prices to consumers while increasing our [...]
December 9th, 2009 at 8:48 amWhat an arduous life you lead, amigo. I totally agree that dancing should make your partner feel like the belle of the ball. Reading your stories should make them feel that way, too. And you do that well.
One thing I’ve seen in my action scenes is that when there are a number of characters present, and their actions are all important to how the fight comes out, that they all want to be described at the same time. Makes for some frantic writing.
Is this book you’re doing fantasy, Mike? Is it part of the cartography series?
December 9th, 2009 at 5:57 pm[...] This post was Twitted by jeanettemarsh [...]
December 9th, 2009 at 8:22 pmKen, The book is in a new series called “the Crown Colonies.” Think “Lord of the Mohicans.” Colonial America with magick and dragons and guns and stuff. I’m having a blast writing it.
I might go back to the Cartography books at some point. I have some ideas for short stories, but just haven’t put them together yet. (Well, I did start one. Have to find it.)
December 9th, 2009 at 9:26 pmReading an e-book is like taking a shower. Curling up with a favorite hardback is like a luxury bath in a jetted tub. Both of them get you clean, but one is only for special occasions and isn’t very convenient.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:50 amThough I personally am looking forward to the time when versatile tablets become popular, I have to agree with those skeptics that think the increasing capable phone-sized devices will remain more popular. A tablet will likely never become the “always with you” device that the phone is. That leaves tablets as a small percentage of phone sales. While still a good market, it won’t be the revolution that smartphones have become. I’ll still want a tablet, but they won’t be for everyone.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:37 amI have to say, first, that your blog has become increasingly informative to me as a young writer since you’ve been blogging your progress on your latest book. It gives me–and other readers–an on-the-fly look at your process, and the thoughts that come out of you at the end of each day of writing.
For one thing, I personally do not consider Once a Hero to be one of your best books. I personally think that both Talion: Revenant, The Dark Glory War, and a few others are much better.
Regardless, there are still some writers who have already written their best work. For example, I belive that Orson Scott Card has already written the best work of his career with the early Ender books, and a few other novels he wrote in the ’80s. My question is–how could that feel as a writer, to have already written your best work? Worse–what if you consider yourself to be growing as a writer when your readership thinks you’ve written your best?
One other thing–you mention that a reader’s favorite book of yours is usually the best book for them at the time. How do you feel, then, when a reader says one of their favorite books of yours isn’t the book you consider to be your strongest?
December 11th, 2009 at 2:28 amYes,some readers hate your books for reasons unknown. Some readers hate your books so badly they sign up for multiple accounts all over the internet and trash your books again and again on Amazon and on every fan site they can find.
I have no personal experience of such a thing happening of course.
December 11th, 2009 at 4:00 am[...] This post was Twitted by JStevenYork [...]
December 11th, 2009 at 4:07 amI also love gadgets. Though since becoming a photographer I now prefer gadgets that are geared toward photography.
Though I do feel a little sad that being in Scotland I have to wait so much longer for funky gadgets. The thingie that you can get from Amazon (I think it is called a Kindle, if it is not then forgive my tiredness) but that has not been available to buy for that long.
I would like to get one of them at some point.
December 11th, 2009 at 8:28 pmOkay, this is a little freaky. One, I also use an IPod Touch, and I primarily bought it so I could carry a library around with me conveniently, so when I had time waiting somewhere I could whip it out and read a book. It has become my preferred way to read a book because it is easy to hold, I can turn the page with one hand, and it is fairly easy to convert my Word docs into PBD book (just converted a friend’s unpublished book and put it on the other night so I can give her a blurb).
I too like the idea of a tablet, but it wouldn’t have the advantage of being able to clip onto my belt and carried around all day with me.
But what is really freaky is that at our TGIO (Thank Goodness It’s Over) end of NaNoWriMo party a couple of Saturday’s ago, I won the door prize of the Ultimate Geek Pen. The lights didn’t work, and we think we need new batteries for it, which I haven’t bought yet, but it does look like a cool pen. If nothing else, it looks pretty flashy.
December 12th, 2009 at 1:49 amI’ve wondered why more well established authors don’t self-publish more.
The stigma about self-publishing has always been the lower quality, both in editing and in the story/characters. Nowdays, anyone can slap a book together and get it on Amazon for minimal cost to them. What that literally means it the readers now have to go through the slush pile. That draws them to stick to authors they trust, and/or publishing houses they trust to get the good stories, to slush read for them and get the cream of the crop.
But for an established author, if they ensure the quality remains the same, self-publishing wouldn’t hold the same stigma, because, after all, you are an established novelist, best-selling author. You have nothing to “prove” in that department, and those who’ve read your books and enjoy them are not likely to feel they are picking up a potentially horrible book simply because you self-published a book.
So I’m not sure “self-published” for an established author is that negative. You have a fan base that will follow you. But the advantage is you get more of the profits if done right on each sell compared to traditional publishing (though if sales fall through, you could make less than an advance you’d get from a publisher). And more of the marketing falls to you as well.
The other reason that self-publishing has taken on a negative vibe is because you don’t see many established authors doing it. But once several did start doing it, that stigma would pass away.
The difficulty is a newbie author self-publishing, and then working to overcome the hurdle to convince someone to plunk down some money to take a chance on your book. Without that fan base already established, it’s a big obstacle to overcome. Getting published by an indie publisher (like I am) helps on that front, because at least I can say someone else liked my book enough to put up the money to get it into print. I can validly say I have a publisher, even if it is a small start up. People are a little more willing to take a chance on you then.
December 12th, 2009 at 2:37 amJust wanted to point out I love the line “they might be on the green side of grass even today”. The character voices here and the narration fits the setting so well, and now I can’t wait to read Queen’s Command!
December 12th, 2009 at 7:15 amIt’s difficult accounting for taste, whether it be the reader or publishers. I can find all kinds of interesting quotes on the internet; for example, “An editor from the San Francisco Examiner sent this in a rejection letter to Rudyard Kipling: ‘I am sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just do not know how to use the English language.’ Even e.e. Cummings wasn’t immune to rejection. Did you know it was Cummings’ mother who first published his poems after a dozen publishers rejected them? Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit was rejected at least six times before she published it herself. If these acclaimed authors faced rejection, why wouldn’t you or I?” (http://www.writersbreak.com/Fiction/articles/article_fiction_rejectionslips.htm)
Sometimes a writer gets a piece published and, perhaps because it’s part of an anthology or zine, gets no feedback at all. Criticism, at the very least, lets you know somebody is out there reading your stuff.
December 12th, 2009 at 9:00 am“Amen” on clever characters and coincidence. As the saying goes, “once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.” I’ll take happenstance (once) or enemy action in a story, but coincidence is pushing it.
One of the great joys I get out of writing is putting a character into tighter and tighter situations, each following inexorably from the best available action the character has at the time, but having no clue how he’s going to get out of it. And then discovering that I unknowingly planted the seed of the solution several chapters back. (Sure, one can always plant it retroactively in the next draft, but it’s cool when you don’t have to.)
December 13th, 2009 at 2:19 amAs a newbie writer I clearly am not getting sufficient distribution. Nobody has told me they hate my stuff. That said, Publishers Weekly did rip on the anthology (”Footprints”) my first story appeared in, and singled my story out as “trite moralizing on the need for a space program”. Me, I was impressed that they singled my story out for any reason, and that they spelled my name right.
December 13th, 2009 at 2:29 amExactly! That Publishers Weekly review I mentioned in an earlier comment meant not only that somebody read my story, but that they (mostly) got it. That they didn’t necessarily agree with the theme isn’t my problem. (I’m writing to entertain, not propagandize.)
December 13th, 2009 at 2:43 amMy favourite book of yours is the sequel to Talion:Revenant. *evil grin*
December 13th, 2009 at 4:41 pmAlthough she has admittedly written a useful essay warning against vanity press scams, I find it hard to stomach Ms. Resnick’s persistent and willful ignorance of the definition of “publish”. IMO,grinding your axe on pavement only dulls your argument.
December 13th, 2009 at 5:38 pmWilliam H. Keith, Jr. Decision At Thunder Rift.
Which unfortunately is no longer in print, I am looking forward to when the long tail coincides with publishing and we can pick up out of print books on our digital readers.
December 15th, 2009 at 1:23 amHi Mike…here’s my portal story:
My introduction to BattleTech was the Xbox game MechAssault. From there I played MechWarrior Dark Age and read the first MWDA book, Ghost War. From then on, I’ve been a BattleTech fan. But it doesn’t end there…I now work for Catalyst Game Labs as a graphic designer, mainly on the BT line.
But I told you the short short version of this at GenCon 08 – I was the random dude in the Starbucks line that paid for you coffee.
December 15th, 2009 at 2:10 amI’m tempted to say it was The Lord of the Rings that put the hook in me, and it’s true that Middle Earth was the first fictional place I actually lived and breathed (and precious few since, sadly), but thinking back it was probably Edith Hamilton’s Mythology that got there first. I used to read that book over and over, along with W.H.D. Rouse’s prose version of the Illiad. I’ve stepped up in my Homer, but I still revisit Ms. Hamilton from time to time. Wonderful post, btw.
December 15th, 2009 at 4:08 amElfstones of Shanara by Terry Brooks, Prior to reading this book my total reading experiences were limited to assignments in school. A friend convinced me to give it a try the tuesday before thanksgiving, I read half the book that first night and checked out it’s predicessor the Sword of shanara to have extra to read for the 4 day weekend the next day from the school library, I proceeded to complete both books by Saturday night (around 1200 pages) and I’ve never stopped. It’s over 20 years later and I still read at least a book a month. I have Mike to thank for pulling me into the wonderful world of Battletech, his novels made for an entry into a world I continue to enjoy and collect and continue to hope to see more of.
December 15th, 2009 at 8:06 amIt’s your fault, Mike. If you don’t blog, the Cardinals lose.
December 15th, 2009 at 11:05 amHave a day off, you do realize that it is not allowed…at all
Well done about the soccer and that is funky that you had a good day.
I love reading. The majority of my books that I read are Star Wars books but I also love fantasy books as well (I named my twins after characters from the Silmarillion) I was sadly never encouraged to read when I was younger though (My mum even moaned about buying a book when I was at school when I was about
I really enjoy the books that you have written. My favorites being the books that you wrote for the X-Wing series.
December 15th, 2009 at 4:40 pmMy portal book was Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White. Our teacher read that in 5th grade and it captured my imagination. When she finished it, I went and checked it out of the school library and have been reading ever since.
My “portal” book to science fiction was in 7th grade when I read “The Runaway Robot” by Lester Del Ray. Science fiction and fantasy became my main diet then.
December 15th, 2009 at 5:21 pmFor the most part, I agree with you about electronic books. I do think that customers would be best served by a retailer who has a clue working in concert with authors who have a clue—by having one united front where they can download titles in a consistent set of open formats. But the only ebook retailer that qualifies right now is Webscriptions. And while they have some non-Baen titles, I don’t see them expanding that to become a generalized ebook retailer.
I do have one question, though. Roc may have relinquished the rights to the original BattleTech novels three years ago (and none of them ever made it out as Roc ebooks). But did they do the same with the MechWarrior: Dark Age novels? The last one came out in print less than two years ago, and I thought that the early MWDA books (including Ghost War) were still in print at that point.
December 15th, 2009 at 8:36 pmJurassic Park in the 7th grade was the first book I ever read by choice. It took me 6 months to finish, but it got me started.
December 15th, 2009 at 8:42 pmTwo thoughts:
The one advantage publishers have (to some extent) is name recognition, which can get them through doors more easily. But, with Amazon and Sony letting “anyone” distribute through them, there doesn’t seem to be many doors that need opening. That simply leaves it up to Amazon/Sony when it comes to book placement in their store (and they may prefer to highlight “known publishers”).
Instead of litigation, could you compete by distributing the ebook versions as well? If Random House doesn’t have exclusive ebook rights then is there anything stopping you from doing it? You could compete with them directly and probably undercut their price and still make more money. They may threaten litigation (which could be scary) but if they have nothing to stand on…
December 15th, 2009 at 9:08 pmAndrew… my mistake.. I don’t differentiate between MechWarrior and BattleTech. In fact I am referring to the MechWarrior branded novels, which were reliquished three years ago, and yet still are sold under the ROC label.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:21 pmI’ve made all my own ebooks, using free programs, and can create a professional ebook within one to two hours or work. I even take digital Word docs from fellow authors, prepub, and convert them so I can read them on my IPod Touch. It ain’t rocket science, for sure.
Also, it might be notable that while the finished product isn’t as good as I can do myself, Smashwords will take a digital file and convert it into all the popular ebook formats, and not only sell it on their site, but it will also (if you do it right) sell on Sony and Barnes and Noble’s sites. No up front costs, they make their money when the book sells. Worth checking out. But that model could easily allow an author with rights to publish and ebook to get it on popular sites for selling without a lot of expense, just some time.
December 15th, 2009 at 10:45 pmThanks for the clarification, Mike! Some people differentiate, others don’t, and since the timeline doesn’t make sense from what I know, I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.
December 16th, 2009 at 12:15 amLet’s be clear on how Google’s nefarious Copyright Infringement is going down. They’re *not* offering the full text of any work (out of print or not) still protected by copyright, and they’re substantially correct that providing a searchable index of all published literature is fundamentally a fair use of that literature, at most you might think they should need to own a single copy of each work. Their settlement is in fact more than generous, and authors are being given the chance to opt out. This actually amounts to google saying “Please sell us (a copy of) your book (for way more than it’s actually worth) so that we can tell visitors to our website if it contains the phrase ‘2 girls 1 cup’.”
(Keep in mind that the Supreme Court has faithfully upheld format translation as Fair Use, so the scanning’s not an issue.)
For all the screaming and hyperbole being tossed around, that’s actually a pretty innocuous (if incredibly ambitious) project, and a rather reasonable request.
It has long been a source of discomfort to me that copyrights to the greatest literature produced during the copyright era generally rest not with the original authors nor with those authors descendants or their estates, but with the large pulbishing houses to whom they were forced to sell their souls in exchange for distribution, finishing, and promotional services.
I’m not sure Random House’s claim is substantially wrong. What they were negotiating for and what those writers were selling them wasn’t just the paper-publishing rights. It was the only kind of publishing rights that existed, the exclusive rights in fact to a piece of your soul. Those are the terms you agreed to, and in an orderly society, that’s the interpretation that should prevail. In a just society, those kinds of contracts shouldn’t even be possible. We’re somewhere between just and orderly, I think, and it seems likely that, this time, justice will prevail over order.
You’re almost certainly right that the strategy for the author in the current era should be not to surrender these rights, given the limited services being provided along with them, the demonstrated inflexibility of the publishing giants, and the frankly ridiculous terms being offered by the publishing houses.
All they can really provide is seed capital, or equivalent services like proofreading, formatting, art, and promotion. If they’re not even doing those things, why should authors surrender any of their rights at all?
Maybe instead you cut in the promotional artists, proofreaders, editors, etc. independently for a piece of the action. Then you get to keep your soul and still get money for it.
Frankly, you’re very nearly a bigger name than Random House. I don’t even look at the publisher’s name when making a purchasing decision. I see Michael A. Stackpole on the cover, and I buy. That’s the real threat to the big publishing houses: irrelevance. They need a valid business model for the next decade, and they need it fast.
December 17th, 2009 at 4:30 amLooking forward to the book. Good luck with the 2010 word-count, but please don’t burn yourself out.
December 17th, 2009 at 4:37 amI’ve read books and science fiction since I was very young. I can still remember my dad reading to me of the adventures of Isaac Asimov’s Norby The Mixed-Up Robot, or Harriette S. Abels’ Emergency Starship EM 88. When I got into Battletech, my younger brother came along as well, and I can remember Natural Selection helping him learn to read. We’re still avid readers, though I will say with some regret that I rarely read books as such anymore.
December 17th, 2009 at 4:53 amDid you have a goal of a 175k book before you started, or did you just let the book be as long as it wanted to be until it felt right?
December 18th, 2009 at 12:35 amThe target was 150,000, but the story needed more, so there it is.
December 18th, 2009 at 8:30 amAfter reading your post a while back about blurb. I find myself hoping to someday be able to mayhaps order some of the stories you’ve serialized to the site or made available electronically through the store in a good ole fashion dead tree format.
December 18th, 2009 at 8:48 amYou say it probably hits the stores in a year or so? I’m curious, what takes how long in the publishing process. I mean, I was always under the impression that writing the book takes the most time
.
December 18th, 2009 at 12:01 pmHooray hooray! Do you give yourself a holiday break now?
December 18th, 2009 at 1:14 pmI am a novice writer, just working on my first novel. I see all this controversy and I cringe. I do hope to be published one day, even if that day is a decade away or more (I’m not that good yet).
As a reader however I agree with JediBear. The publishing houses are largely irrelevant. I don’t care when I see a book if it was published by Tor or Bantam or whoever. I care that I see it in a store (or online at amazon or somewhere I can buy it – free content just doesn’t seem as high quality even compared to the worst books I’ve read). After that I care if it’s an author I know or have heard good things about. The authors are their own brand, not their publishing houses.
The only thing that keeps the publishing houses busy is the fact that to get a book to shelves, you have to go through them. To go through them you need to have decent writing, editing and all the trimmings. But if established writers can get all that by themselves (hire out editing work instead of letting the publishers do it) they can publish their own work online (on demand print + e-books) and the publishing houses will be forced to rethink everything.
Unfortunately, if that day is coming, it seems at least to be a far way off. Too many podcasts I listen to focus on getting published with the big guys, showing how self-publishing book market is still taboo. For this reason I fear Random House either will get away with their larcenous use of legalese, or at least show enough bluster that lowly authors will fear challenging them (as will smaller publishers).
I tell you what. When I’m finally ready to submit my work for consideration, Random House will be off my list. I respect myself too much to contract with anyone this nefarious. I understand their need to defend their bottom line, but there are more legal and tactful ways to do that without taking advantage of your authors or hurting your image.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:49 pmBTW: Mike. I’m rereading your X-Wing books. When I first read them I was a kid and didn’t really see past the exciting adventure. Now I see a wealth of character and plot structure. I’m asking for more of your titles for US Federal Holiday who’s name is taboo. If I don’t get them I’ll be picking them up after.
I appreciate your online presence as it helps aspiring young writers like me feel like you guys are real and actual people (like what else would you be?).
December 18th, 2009 at 6:53 pmChristoph, there’s no ironclad schedule for the parts of a book. I once wrote a book in a month, was doing copyedits inside a month, galleyproofs shortly thereafter, and the book hit print 3 months after I typed my last word. Other times publishers have had books for years and never get around to publishing them. Generally speaking, a 4 month window between delivery and publishing is vital, since publishers pitch books to bookstores 4 months or so from release date. contracts usually have a publishing window of around 2 years from delivery to publication; but one year from delivery to print is fairly common.
December 18th, 2009 at 8:53 pmI hope you have more luck with the PC software for the sony reader than I have. It seems that it has become more & more buggy at the same time the hardware has gotten better.
December 18th, 2009 at 9:31 pmLove it! Sounds like Guy Gavriel Kay on steroids!
December 19th, 2009 at 6:27 pmYou’re making me so look forward to my flights on Christmas Eve. I guess I need to check my baby elephant now, huh?
December 22nd, 2009 at 11:29 amWell, at this stage of my life, family has shrunk (because they live all over), so will be spending Christmas at the ranch. I think the tradition we’re going to hold to is based on the “KISS” principle. The older I get, the less it takes to enjoy the holidays.
But in spite of that, Christmas will be a beautiful and happy holiday, if only so that we can spit in the eye of winter.
I think I did feel the universe reorder itself, but I was out in cold wind feeding the horses and checking on the chickens, so it might just have been early signs of hypothermia.
I hope your Christmas with your family is a joyous one!
And thanks for being such a good writer. Your books have provided me with hours of pleasure.
December 23rd, 2009 at 1:24 pmWell said. I’ve been listening to Mr. Dicken’s A Christmas Carol yesterday and today. Rereading/listening to it is my new tradition, I started when I found a free download of it in audio form last year, and I started listening to it on Christmas Eve. I love the way Dickens describes characters and food. Happy Holidays Mike! And thanks for all the stuff you put out in your Secrets podcast and on Dragonpage for us writers in the making. Your shared wisdom has been very helpful.
December 23rd, 2009 at 1:34 pmHi Michael! We met at Dragon*Con (I wanted to introduce myself because you knew my dad and your dad was my doctor!). Since then I have been reading and really enjoying your blog. And I agree ABSOLUTELY. For me, it’s the crass consumerism that really bugs me… the commercials on t.v. depicting stressed out people who just don’t have enough time to buy gifts for all the millions of people on their must-buy-gifts list. I don’t know where the holiday spirit is in that, and it makes me grumpy.
Anyway, best of holidays to you and yours, and hi to your dad!
December 23rd, 2009 at 2:38 pmMichael, you are so funny. You know that your dad being able to find his way home hinges upon him being able to open the app he needs…. Best of luck at Computer Camp, pack accordingly. See you later.
December 23rd, 2009 at 3:05 pmI truly hope you will write a sequel to Talion: Revenant. The first was fantastic and I am sure that you could get a lot of people to pre-order/subscribe to a sequel.
December 25th, 2009 at 2:43 amHappy belated Christmas to you all. I hope you all had a funky day.
That is good that you have been able to get some writing done.
I had a dream with you in last night (I did not see you but I knew you were there somewhere)
I am also at my parents for Christmas and Hogmanay (though sadly no snow)
We had to travel for 12 hours to get here (by train) but that was not too bad. Though dad slipped on the ice and broke his arm and I had to take my son to the hospital yesterday with breathing problems. Thankfully both of them are making good recoveries.
So Christmas here is not turning out to be too bad.
December 26th, 2009 at 9:42 amI forgot to say that what a lovely house that is.
I would love to live in a house like that.
December 26th, 2009 at 9:44 amMy guess is that they checked into the one but not the other, and then wrapped up the one either because they wanted it to be safe so you didn’t complain about it breaking or spilling after they had messed with it and/or because they wanted to make sure you knew they had checked it rather than leave you wondering.
December 30th, 2009 at 11:07 pmNote to self: have some of Mom’s jam for lunch today.
December 31st, 2009 at 1:49 pmGreat post, Mike.
Speaking of occult detectives, have you read the Carnacki stories by William Hope Hodgson? The author was sadly killed in WWI, so Carnacki is now public domain.
January 6th, 2010 at 4:21 amAdam, yes, the Carnacki stories are some of those I’m reading. Great fun and inspirational!
January 6th, 2010 at 10:01 amExcept you do occasionally hold workshops, which is the correct venue for that sort of thing.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:16 pmRick, you’re absolutely right. Workshops involve a contract, where the stories are being evaluated for the purpose of learning. (I learn, others learn, it’s all good.)
January 6th, 2010 at 8:07 pmMaybe if my [expletive deleted] recruiter hadn’t have harassed me back in ‘00, our government would have more competent analysts. My 95% ASVAB score pretty much guaranteed me a spot in linguistics and intel like I wanted (Intelligence Analyst to be exact). Oh well. It just annoys me whenever I read something in regards to poor intelligence analysis.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:03 pmThis is completely understandable, and I personally have no problems with it (though I also have no stories to share at this time). But I do have one question: legally what is the difference between reading someones unsolicited story and picking up a novel off the shelf at the book store and reading it, or one that comes into the Dragon Page library? I’d think you are not under contract to read the books that show up (unsolicited, right?) at the Dragon Page studios…
BTW, I’ve followed your work on the web and podcasting for a long time, love what you do, please keep it up!
January 8th, 2010 at 2:40 pmThis plan is emphatically endorsed by the Arcadian Jedi Academy and has recieved the JediBear seal of approval. That and a buck-fifty will get you a coffee in some places.
January 8th, 2010 at 8:15 pmSome good tips, thanks Mike!
I don’t like a weird mix of names within one culture either. I also prefer pretty simple names for characters and places instead of long tongue-twisters that are almost unpronounceable. I see that quite a lot in fantasy and it’s pretty annoying.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:59 amThe primary difference between reading unsolicited material and published material is not a legal one per se: it’s that in the latter case I know I’m dealing with a professional who understands the business and creativity. While it is still incumbent upon me to keep their material out of my work, they also understand that publishing delays can mean that I’ll have written something prior to seeing their work, but which was published subsequent to it. There was one case, on the Stephen King website, where a reader accused me of plagiarizing a King story based on the comparison of opening situations—and my story had been published a handful of years before the King story. That reader didn’t know enough to compare the dates. All that was important to him was that he’d read mine after he’d read King’s, therefore I had to have copied King. And before you say no one could be that stupid and get a lawsuit inititated, think about some of the suits that have been initiated.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:38 pmMichael,
January 12th, 2010 at 10:21 pmWhat are your thoughts about action heroes having single syllable first and last names vs. a two syllable last name with two hard consonants like Daffy StarDuck? Almost every action adventure novel I read has single consonant first and last names (at least the memorable characters).
“4) Do not worry about folks who complain about screening devices that look under clothes. They have a choice. Get screened or stay home. Travel is not compulsory. (Besides, folks already have given up complaining about TSA employees pawing their underwear in suitcases, so the hubbub over scanner picks hitting Facebook will die pretty quickly.)”
You’re absolutely right, travel is not compulsory. Work travel in these globalised times might be a problem, but then again, keeping your job is not compulsory either, so the whiners should just shut up and deal with it.
Since we’ve established that travel is not compulsory and therefore anything goes, I have another surefire suggestion to prevent terrorism: It is well known that terrorists want to spread terror and you can only do so by looking fierce and intimidating. The mad look, the beards, the puffy bags under their eyes – surely a menacing look is a key trait for any self respecting terrorist. Therefore, everyone who is not a terrorist should be forced to wear a jester’s cap and a T-Shirt saying “I’m not a terrorist, I wear the cap!” when they’re at the airport.
Real terrorists won’t be ridiculed like that, so in the interest of safety we MUST instate that measure immediately. It’s as effective as the scanners, but with no health risk whatsoever. Cleary a win-win situation.
All the best,
Kai
January 13th, 2010 at 6:30 am6. Conduct more thorough searches of every passenger who can be reasonably inferred to be a Muslim man.
January 13th, 2010 at 5:43 pmKai, you have a point vis a vis the need of folks to travel to keep jobs; but I’m not certain it’s frequent travelers who are the ones protesting full body scans. I travel a lot and talk to a lot of travelers who do as well. We all know how safe we are not. I’ve already had to change how I dress and prepare to travel, so going through a scanner is not going to be that much of a change for me. Will it keep us 100% safe. Absolutely not. Will it keep us safe from some attacks? Yes and, in my opinion, worth the inconvenience.
The Jester costume idea I like. Lots of folks on planes, especially those coming back from Mexican vacations, seem to have adopted your plan already.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:42 pmI’d not agree with this suggestion. First, not all suicide bombers are male. Second, you can’t tell a Muslim by looking at him. Third, not all Muslims are terrorists, not by a long shot. If you’d read the article I wrote, and read all the other information we’ve been allowed to see in this case, you’d know that if not for human failings, the panty bomber would have been spotted and barred from the flight. All using your suggestion would do is have terrorists work on sleeper agents. Radicalize a guy, having him visit a Christian missionary, having him undergo a “conversion experience,” and he’s free to go where he will and blow up whatever he wants, simply because he wasn’t Muslim.
January 13th, 2010 at 8:46 pmDear Mike,
it’s not just the frequent travelers, it’s probably the vast majority of people who don’t object the use of those scanners. Quite a worrying thought to me, as the likelihood of governments misusing the data they collect is – in my humble opinion – higher than being the unlikely victim of a terrorist attack.
I probably should just bite the bullet, taking solace in the knowledge that my inconvenience and annoyance guarantees that everyone else on board can “feel” safe. Who am I to object, when I’m putting dozens of others at ease?
As a frequent flyer, aren’t you worried about health repercussions, though? The thought of being bombarded with EM waves that are powerful enough to penetrate clothes makes me a bit queasy. Now, if every politician in favour would agree to step through one of these devices once a day to prove their safety, I’d feel much better. The bottom line is that I’d rather get frisked than find out in 25 years that flying 6-8 times a year has given me cancer (I know, it might still do that, irrespective of screening).
Also, the way governments tackle the terrorism threat makes me wonder whether these scanners will have a negative overall impact on security. Consider this: For fire hazards, we know how fire is going to behave and can put appropriate counter measures into place – fire doors, smoke detectors, extinguishers and what not.
Now, with terrorism they employ the same strategy: Oh someone smuggled explosives in his shoes, let’s ask passangers to take off their shoes from now on, so that we can check them. This measure is not making us safer, as the terrorists will know that shoes are being checked and will come up with a new plan. Also, the extra effort of checking the shoes is increasing the haystack as we are searching for the needle in it (I actually stole that haystack-needle line from a guy on TV. Forgot the name, so I can’t properly reference it).
The scanners are supposed to be automated – due to the privacy concerns they don’t want to use them in the same way as the luggage scanners, where people have to intelligently assess the pictures and possible threats. With these body scanners, the security people might get complacent and think “Well, everyone went through the scanners, it’s SAFE.”
So if the terrorists find a way to somehow trick the scanners, a simple software update might already do the trick and if they are connected to the internet that’s definitely a possibility, then it’ll be less safe. The work of real people, who apply intelligence and common sense, can’t be replaced by an automated process. Terrorism can’t be fought with the same approach as a simple fire hazard.
I wish that the scanners will not only make us feel safer, but actually increase safety. I also wish that they have no impact on our health.
However, I remain skeptical on both accounts.
All the best,
Kai
January 14th, 2010 at 7:13 amI’ve been tempted to turn off the 700 Club in my employer’s waiting room because we have a policy that prohibits hate speech.
The most obvious hypocrisy, though, is that hurricanes that hit Virginia Beach have NOTHING to do with Mr. Robertson.
January 14th, 2010 at 7:23 amCorrections of my post due to lack of an edit function:
“The thought of being bombarded with EM waves that are powerful enough to penetrate clothes makes me a bit queasy.”
I really should have known better than to fire off something so poorly and erroneously phrased. Of course it’s not the penetration that’s problematic or even surprising. At the moment the claim is that terrahertz radiation is harmless, but I’d prefer some more studies being conducted on that, especially under the same conditions you’d need for getting good images.
“let’s ask passangers to”
I guess we should rather ask passengers…
January 14th, 2010 at 9:08 amI know what you mean, but never realized it on a conscious level. I always liked the names in your books. My favorite: Natascha Kerensky
In the novel “Accellerando” by Charles Stross the main protagonist is called Manfred. Got immediately drawn in by the name alone, I mean had he called him differently it wouldn’t have been the same.
January 14th, 2010 at 10:02 amI’m a Christian and take exception to Pat Robertson’s words (and hypocrisy), particularly because bad things can happen to good people and that doesn’t mean they should have been better. Take the story of Job from the Bible? Would Pat have been like one of Job’s friends, suggesting ad nauseam that he must have sinned, or would he see the truth of the trials Job was going through? My guess is he would have gone off the deep end on accusations of evil.
And who exactly does this sort of accusation even help? Whether his ravings are right or not, does it entice anyone *ANYONE* to convert to Christianity or give it a second thought?
January 14th, 2010 at 5:04 pm>>This is the moral equivalent of telling a rape victim that she deserved it because of the way she dresses.<<
Actually I think in this specific case, it's more like blaming a rape victim because of the way her great-great-grandmother dressed.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:20 pmMike:
Will you be involved with any of the new BT novels that Catalyst Game Labs will (at some point in time) be publishing now that they have taken over the franchise from WizKids?
January 16th, 2010 at 9:04 pmWe’re in negotiations to figure out what I can do and when our schedules will sync up, so a qualified yes to that question.
January 17th, 2010 at 10:38 amWell written, Mike, not that Heather and I needed any more cause to donate.
Donations are needed now, but we all need to commit to donating 6 months, and a year, and two years from now. Long after CNN has moved on, Haiti will still need us.
//H
January 17th, 2010 at 1:24 pmHi Mike,
I’ve read the blog for a couple of years now but this is my first time commenting. Over on Dean Wesley Smith’s blog there’s been a lot of talk on a similar topic: whether or not agents know markets better than writers, it’s part of Dean’s ongoing series ‘Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing.’ It’s been a really cool discussion and I thought I’d see what your take was.
Steve
January 17th, 2010 at 4:20 pmSorry forgot to put the link. Here it is:
http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=720
January 17th, 2010 at 4:21 pmSteve, I agree in general with what Dean says about agents. Agents are busy and might not have as good a grasp on the general market as an author is, if that author does his homework. Big if. Dean does it and does it well. I do my best to do it. What this means is that I’m less worried about turning out a book that will sell in the market, than I am about making sure I make the most I can from it. That’s for my agent to worry about, and I trust in his knowledge of who got paid what by whom, so he can get the most for me that he can.
Dean is right: agents are really career consultants. They don’t make the decisions for us, they provide us input so we can make decisions. And if we don’t do our homework and only rely on them, then the perils Dean describes will swallow us whole.
January 17th, 2010 at 4:38 pmThanks for the quick response Mike. It’s easy for a rookie like myself to get confused by all the misinformation and myths out there. I’m just glad that there are pros out there who try to help us rookies out. My experience with pro writers is limited to you (I took the ASU class), Kris and Dean, and Steven Barnes, but all of you have been very helpful and have shed light on an incredibly kookie industry.
Thanks,
Steve
January 17th, 2010 at 4:46 pmDamn! You beat me to it! LOL. This sounds really great. I’ve wanted to do something like this for a while, but since you “stole” my idea, I’ll just have to drool all over my copy of At the Queen’s Command. Can’t wait!
January 18th, 2010 at 12:26 amA german physicist proved that those scanners can be tricked (German video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrKvweNugnQ&feature=player_embedded
For those who do not understand german, essentially he smuggled a lot of stuff including thermite through such a scanner. Not very reassuring.
Also:
CCC (Chaos Computer Club, a german “hacker” organisation) took a look at an airport security system frequently used in germany. http://events.ccc.de/congress/2009/Fahrplan/events/3709.en.html
They tested their findings in Hamburg and walked with their faked security cards to the landing field without any problems and passing any controls. Their cards opened every door.
@Kai:
Waves in the terahertz range have far less energy than x-ray so it is assumed they do less damage. Also, they are not ionising (< 200nm).
For comparison:
As far as I know the radiation level of a roentgen based airport scanner is 0.2 microsivert.
(Sorry, from memory, I don't have a source here)
8 hour transatlantic flight: 40 microsivert
x-ray of the lung: 1000 microsivert
computertomographie of the brain: 45000 microsivert
Source: Health Center Hamburg, http://virtuellekoloskopie.com/html/strahlendosis.html
(Note: e.g. in Wikipedia you can find different values, since it always is an average over various scanners or for a specific brand)
For me in person those scanners are the least of my worrys. I believe they are medically as safe as it gets. If the improve security? Sure. Put the there. But(!) also ensure that the data are not stored.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:41 amI don’t think Pat’s comments are particularly reasonable. As someone pointed out, if Katrina was God’s wrath on New Orleans He missed; the French Quarter was hardly touched!
Haiti on the other hand, is an enigma. It is the poorest country in the western hemisphere although it is one half of an island that is otherwise quite prosperous. One has to wonder why it is this country just can’t find the leadership and motivation it needs to move forward. Much of the benefit we experience from Western culture can be attributed to its Christian foundation. If abandoning that foundation is a formula for disaster Haiti may be a good example and at the rate we are going we’ll be joining them shortly.
January 20th, 2010 at 2:18 pmBut Haiti hasn’t abandoned Christianity. The vast majority of the population is Catholic (80%) with the largest other group being Protestant at 16%. Their problems do not stem from religion and difficulties thereof, but from many decades of corruption. The Duvalier years specifically resulted in a lack of educational infrastructure which, in turn, means a lack of people able to run a modern economy. Haiti has become a place dominated by outside business interests. As for the Dominican Republic, its certainly more successful than Haiti, but 42% of the population lives below the poverty line, the per capita income is $8,200; with the top 10% of the population making nearly 39% of the income, and the bottom 10% making under 2% of the income. More significantly, 66% of the population is involved in the “services sector” of the economy—which includes tourism and free trade zone activity, both of which have dipped considerably since the worldwide economic downturn. As for religion, the Dominican Republic is 95% Catholic so, depending upon how one decides Catholicism fits into Christianity, they would be considerably less Christian than Haiti, or virtually tied with them.
Religion is not the deciding factor here, no matter Pat Robertson’s senile ravings.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:46 pmI never deliver a review in terms of stars but in terms of financial terms. How much would I pay to see this film again?
Best review is always going to be any primetime & twice at midnight/buying the DVD. The reviews continue downward as such:
Primetime
Matinee
Pay Per View/Pay Cable (HBO, Showtime, etc)
Rent the DVD/Watch it online (legally, of course – NetFlix baby)
Basic Cable
Network TV
If I’m dying of entertainment withdrawal … maybe
Hope this helps … feel free to refer to it if you want, Mike.
January 20th, 2010 at 5:20 pmI like that breakdown – there seems to be a huge polarization between 1 and 5 stars with reviewers – they either love it or they hate but, but they did like this, this and this. Far too often are films given perfect scores.
January 20th, 2010 at 6:11 pmSo, Mike… silly question, where do you download Epub to to convert documents to the Epub format?
Thanks, Robert
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:02 pmWhat 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.
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:12 amRobert, 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.
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:11 pmHere’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.
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:19 pmAnd, 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.
January 23rd, 2010 at 12:20 pmThe other problem for Haiti is the way France ruthlessly exploited it for more than a century-and-a-half after independence.
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:09 pmWow, sorry, Micheal, but there are many, many things wrong in thise post. First, you trot out a homophobic epthitet to describe slightly over half-the-country now in an pretty blatant attempt to emotionally smear anyone who disagrees with you.
Second, you insert a charge of RACISM into Beck’s motives here based on no other reason that it’s Obama as ONE of the two people he’s talking about.
Third, you take a tasteless joke about Edward’s infidelity (which apparently you have no problem with) in regards to his own wife. Tasteless, yes, not really funny, but hardly the equivalent of calling his wife a ‘whore’, as you outright state.
And now you’re going to follow it all up with an assertion that Beck’s audience is so violent that someone listening to him will murder his wife over this joke.
Wow. This says FAR more about you than it does Beck. In even the most liberal bastion in this nation, nearly a third of the people are STILL conservative.. oh, my, how does the world survive with such racist, violent, mysogynists causing all these problems.
Unless, of course, none of it is really true, and you really should get out more. Just a thought.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:02 pmNeale, Take a deep breath. You need more oxygen going to your brain.
The “homophobic epithet” was the use of the term tea-bagger, I believe, which is what much of Beck’s conservative followers tagged themselves.
To your second point: I said I wouldn’t inject a point about racism, so clearly I didn’t. You’ll notice that I also didn’t take Beck to task for suggesting that President Obama was an adulterer which, at this point in time, is an allegation for which Mr. Beck has no evidence.
Third: you assert that I apparently have no problem with John Edwards’ infidelity. Either you completely misread my comments about politicians, their infidelities, and the need for ridicule to put them in their places -OR- you wish to be a psychic and read my mind. I hope it’s not the latter because you’re really bad as a psychic.
You and I agree, Beck’s joke was Tasteless. Utterly tasteless.Disgusting, in fact.
Fourth, I did not assert that one of Beck’s followers would murder his wife. I merely asked if it was conceivable, in the minds of readers, that an unbalanced individual might, in fact, misinterpret something said by a pundit and take action that is unwanted and horrible. We all know the answer to that is yes.
As for your assertion that I should get out more, I’ll put this down to your passion for your conservative world view. Until such a time as you know enough about me to have grounds to assert I lack the experience to make informed and reasonable decisions, you would do well to confine your arguments to the facts presented in my essays, and leave the personal comments aside.
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:30 pmSuch wonderful advice, Michael. Thank you, thank you, thank you for these blog entries. It’s very reassuring for new writers like me to hear that someone we look up to and admire has his own moments of doubt and finds ways to overcome them.
January 24th, 2010 at 8:01 pmBantam dropped you? Can’t believe it. Their loss!
I have all books from you and you are the only reason I have read Battle Tech at all. Justin, Morgan Kell, Kai, Natasha Kerensky, … Some of my all time favorites!
Dragon Crown and Cartomancy are great too and no, you didn’t lose it
I waited two years or so till “A new World” came out because I didn’t want to wait an eternity(again!) till the second book comes out. Damn, waiting for Fortress Draconis was HARD. Btw.: Loved Crow and the marriage twist was fantastic!
January 25th, 2010 at 10:27 amThanks Mike, this entry couldn’t have been better timed for me. I really appreciate it.
January 26th, 2010 at 8:45 amMaybe you have already heard about this: http://volokh.com/2010/01/25/7th-circuit-upholds-prison-rule-forbidding-inmates-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons/
I thought, you as the author of the Pulling Report might be interested.
January 26th, 2010 at 8:50 amCristoph, I did hear about it. Unfortunately prisons prohibit anything which can be used for gambling, or create items of wealth that can be used as a medium of exchange, or allow people to manipulate people. Regardless of the details and thoughts they ascribe to gaming, it does fall into that class of item. Because felons surrender many of their civil rights, game playing is not guaranteed and, at best, gets treated as a privilege. Privileges are often restricted in prison, so our hands are kind of tied here.
January 26th, 2010 at 12:33 pmI had no idea you were part of the sar trek 25th anniversery game. I loved that game.
I see the 2nd and 3rd book of the Dragon Crown War are available thru sonys ebook store, what happened to the first one? I want to buy all three but I don’t want to have one in print and two in ebook.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:26 pmMike,
January 26th, 2010 at 8:35 pmBeck’s joke was dumb, plain and simple.
But I’m sure if you think back real hard, you might just recall something equally dumb that slipped out of your mouth. (Possibly the quote about you beating a movie producer within an inch of his life?) C’mon. I know you didn’t mean that literally. And we both know that Beck didn’t either. Stupidity crosses party lines, as you pointed out. Keith Olberman brands people “The Worst Person in the World!” I sure hope some Olbermaniac doesn’t get any ideas!
One more thing…
January 26th, 2010 at 8:59 pmAs to your point about “unbalanced individuals”, I’m sure you’re not suggesting that such people don’t exist among liberals. I seem to recall certain individuals hanging effigies of Sarah Palin. Really nice…
Dustin, I think you’re missing my point. My saying I would beat a movie producer within an inch of his life wasn’t in any way denigrating him as a person. Beck, presumably, loves his wife. To make her part of a tasteless joke is, as you put it, dumb.
And, at no point, did I suggest there weren’t whackoids on the left. However, when we compare violence between Americans of either political persuasion, hardcore right wingers have a much nastier record (especially recently) than leftists. I’d be more than happy with folks being burned in effigy, especially if it is an alternative to someone waltzing into the Holocaust Museum and opening fire, or guys opening fire on cops in Ohio or Washington state, or guys hooking blacks or gays to the back of a pick-up truck and dragging them along for a mile or two.
And, for the sake of clarity, I am not suggesting Glenn Beck fans are going to be prompted to do things by his pronouncements. However, I will say that those who are inclined to do such things often count themselves among the mass that believe Beck is spouting the truth.
January 26th, 2010 at 9:27 pmYou’re generalizing. By that way of thinking, fans of certain types of rock music and ethnic backgrounds could be lumped in that category. But hey, as long as you call out liberals when they do stupid stuff (such as bomb-throwing for the Weather Underground) then it’s all ok.
January 26th, 2010 at 9:58 pmSidenote: Even though his violent actions are well in the past, Bill Ayers has yet to show any remorse for what he did. In fact, he’s stated the opposite.
And another thing!!! I’m STILL going to buy At the Queen’s Command, and I have every intention to enjoy the hell out of it! So there! Please don’t allow a small thing like misguided political beliefs keep you from churning out The Good Stuff! (LOL)
January 27th, 2010 at 12:25 amMike,
January 27th, 2010 at 12:59 amJust wondering if you’ve read the works of John Dickson Carr? Sure they have their flaws, but to my mind many of them are mystery classics and a lot of fun. Just wondering.
“depending upon how one decides Catholicism fits into Christianity”
I thought Catholics created the Bible that all Christians follow at the Council of Nicea. First came the teachings of Christ, then the Church, and last the Scripture, carefully chosen to coincide with existing traditions and teachings handed down orally. Wondering if Catholics are Christians is like wondering if the Founding Fathers were American. Off topic, I know, and I apologize, but I couldn’t resist.
Regardless, I agree that the issue is not religion, but Pat Robertson’s misguided interpretation of religion and religious obligation. I think Christians, or really more broadly; decent human beings, see disaster not as a time to condemn, but to live up to their responsibilities as humans and lend a hand.
January 27th, 2010 at 3:13 amNot 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.
January 27th, 2010 at 10:37 pmJack,
You’re lucky. You’ve led a sheltered life. There are a number of fundamentalist sects which believe that Catholics are not Christians and that the Pope is the Antichrist, and that the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon as mentioned in Revelations. Specifically many folks take issue with the fact that Catholics are not required to accept Jesus as their personal savior. This is seen as the reason Catholics will not get into heaven.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:08 amThe reason the first two books in the DragonCrown war series are not available is a Bantam problem. Alas, nothing I can do about that.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:10 amCool post Mike, I think you’re right. I’m excited to hear what you guys have to say on the next Dragon Page Cover to Cover, I know this will be a topic of discussion.
January 28th, 2010 at 12:35 pmI agree completely. Now fingers-crossed the iBook store is going to be available outside the US!
January 28th, 2010 at 12:43 pmI have to disagree. I felt cheated after yesterday’s announcement. I was expecting something big, a game-changer. Instead I got all sizzle and no steak. To me, the iPad seems to want to do a bunch of things, but can’t do them well. Is it a giant awkward iPod? Is it a computer with woeful storage and support problems? Is it an e-reader over-priced by a good $300?
I don’t see what it does that all of our current devices do not do, nor do I see how it does other things any better. It looks like a status gadget, a $500 piece of flair, a secret handshake that can put you in debt. At best it is one big thing that replaces a lot of more conveniently-sized smaller things.
January 28th, 2010 at 1:31 pmMike,
Oh, don’t worry I’ve seen the little booklets about how “Bob, went to confession before he died so he’s going to hell” and been lectured about how believing in Saints is evil. I know these opinions exist.
Please allow me to clarify my point without taking offense, as I have nothing against fellow Christians other than to think my way is better (which everyone does or they wouldn’t actually believe in anything).
About 1.1 billion people in this world are nominally Roman Catholic. As close as I can estimate, approximately another 500 million Christians have beliefs that are not directly opposed to Roman Catholic teaching. That’s groups that believe in the Real presence, some form of transubstantiation, ordain priests and have a more formal structure and hierarchy. Eastern Orthodox sects, Anglicans, and Lutherans(more or less), generally fit in this category along with many of their offshoots. Back east, many of these sects train and study together (biblical criticism with the Lutherans, philosophy with the Catholics, etc).
Some sects descended from the Anabaptists (end-timers), and Calvinists tend to view the Catholic Church in a dimmer light. Out of these groups come your stereotypical Bible thumpers. There aren’t very many of them and they mostly live here in the US so we take them more seriously than most of the world. Out of over 2 billion Christians they make up a tiny minority. They read the Bible literally, kind of, and try to avoid anything that has its roots in Catholicism, which is amusing to watch. Like taking Philemon out of the Bible actually sets them apart in any way except letting them keep slaves. I don’t particularly blame them though, organized religion killed millions in Europe, but I think that’s more a testament to intolerance in general back then rather than anything inherent in Catholic or Lutheran teaching.
Jesus said only through Him could you reach the Father. He also gave his disciples permission to forgive sins. He gave us proxies before he left, and Reconciliation is, as every sacrament, given in the name of Christ.
Its not that Catholics don’t accept Christ as their personal savior, but that the fact that Jesus is the savior is so basic the discussion of it is like the discussion of addition in a linear algebra class.
So yeah, I know people disagree with Catholicism and its teachings. That doesn’t mean their opinions don’t lack historical and factual perspective.
January 28th, 2010 at 7:38 pmWell, I really like peoples work in different industries until I see what they are like politically, then it kind of ruins it for me. Like Green Day, Danny Glover, etc… Ah well, I will still enjoy the books, You are one of the most excellent writers I have ever had the pleasure to read.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:00 pmWell as far as indirect, non violent deaths, Rachel Carson and the environmentalists have Cons beat by millions with the ban of DDT…
January 28th, 2010 at 11:52 pmWill you be recording this as an MP3 for a podcast for those of us who can’t attend?
January 29th, 2010 at 12:47 pmI’d also be interested in a mp3, as it’s just bad timing. Have Mike slide it into the Dragon Page feed.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:22 pmMike, I’m really looking forward to this – thanks for sharing with us.
Mattie
January 29th, 2010 at 4:45 pmThere’s really nothing new here. It might be innovative. It might be evolutionary. What it’s not is revolutionary. Then again, neither was the iPhone. Or the iPod. Or the Macintosh.
Failing to do things first and even failing to do them well has never stopped Apple from making money. I won’t be buying an iPad, but plenty of other people will.
After all, touch-screens are trendy, and Apple products are (often disgustingly) cute.
January 30th, 2010 at 6:55 amI must not have made my point clearly enough.
The iPad is not a device for folks who work ON computers, it’s one for everyone else. If you’re familiar enough with computers to understand the implications of terms like “code,” “bandwidth,” and “epub,” this device was not meant to serve your every need and whim.
A proper analogy is this: the iPad is a Ford Mustang. Flashing, will get you around, you can take it on a date, you can do a grocery run. Sure, not enough trunk space, and the back seat’s a bit crowded, but it does all the things most folks need a device like this to do.
For everyone else, for everyone who needs heavy-duty computing power, there’s the whole Indy-car class of transportation. High power, turns in both directions, pure speed with a few bells and whistles. Not very comfortable doing the mundane things of life, but it will function.
January 30th, 2010 at 8:31 am[...] is also why prefer to use the term coined by Author Bob Vardeman while in discussion with Author Mike A. Stackpole, Vertically Integrated Publishing. Both of these men are authors with impressive records, both have [...]
January 30th, 2010 at 9:19 amI have to agree with Billy. I don’t know if it’s different enough from an iPod touch to make as big of a change as you’re claiming. The only differences are the terrain and pin features on the map you mentioned, and the iWork application, which sounds like it might be useful enough to get some people to buy it for a little bit of work on the go. However, I don’t think that the typing experience on it will be good enough to justify using the iPad over a laptop computer, and for the rest, there is the iPod touch.
January 30th, 2010 at 3:01 pmMe three, on the mp3 thing. I hope the reading went well!
January 31st, 2010 at 12:45 amI think you made your point perfectly clearly, Mike.
What I’m saying is that people have been working with computers for years. User-friendliness is not new. None of the iPad features you mention are something that wasn’t available on a tablet PC a decade ago. And yes, while we’re at it, touch-screens could certainly be added. Most professionals who work with computers seem to prefer the stylus, and I can see why.
I work on computers, but the cousins I passed my old machines down to work with them, and they’ve been working with them since they were running MS-DOS with a menu system written entirely as a DOS batch file.
Apple just isn’t for everybody Mike, and their claims of innovation are exaggerated and annoying as usual. Not that that’s anything different in the PC (that is, computer-as-appliance) industry.
January 31st, 2010 at 11:07 pmCool. Pity about it being in Second Life though. That’s a solid way of assuring I won’t be there. I might follow you into the fires of hell, but asking me to follow you into Second Life is a but much.
January 31st, 2010 at 11:12 pmHope you are happy now: http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=20120100549
Of course if the airport security people operate “by the book” and really only specifically scan people on US flights, terrorists will simply buy two tickets.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:41 amSo, did you ever go see Avatar?
I would be curious to hear what you thought of it.
By your rating system I would give it a 3.5 star rating. The story and acting were actually better than I expected. Seriously, anyone going into Avatar expecting more than an extraordinary visual spectacle wasn’t paying attention.
The storyline was not original, think “Dances With Wolves” or “Ferngully” in space, and you have the gist of the story. Oddly, what I thought was the best acting came from Neytiri, the CGI female lead. Which in and of itself is amazing and shows just how far CGI has come.
However, I was interested in seeing what a professional writer thought of the movie, and not someone who went in expecting nothing more than amazing eye-candy and a storyline hopefully not so bad as to ruin the reason for going.
February 1st, 2010 at 1:11 pmGood post, Michael. This is something I’m wondering too. Although there’s a lot of justifiable negativity toward P.O.D. publishers, the real issue is the ethics of those doing the publishing, and the big publishers that print books for stock at stores sound like their ethics could be put into just as much question as some nasty company that’s only looking to rip off an author and never really sell their novel.
P.O.D. and e-books are just a tool – the same as preprinted books and shelves are tools. In the future, as more and more authors self publish or find a decent P.O.D. publisher (they really are out there, even if they’re hard to find; an example is this one here – http://www.marcherlordpress.com run by Jeff Gerke – it focuses on speculative Christian fiction and currently has two seasons a year with only three books each season – may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s an example of a decent P.O.D. publisher), I think the big publishers are going to have to either do something similar to what you suggest or they’ll just go out of business.
Myself, I’m still trying to figure out just how I want to sell books on my website and am exploring some digital options to cut down on shipping costs and delays. If anyone has any suggestions or offers, please click the link of my site and send me an e-mail.
No doubt, this issue will be resolved soon enough. The hope is that it will be resolved sooner than later and that it doesn’t cost the consumer more money than it needs to. We shall see.
Be encouraged,
David
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:05 pmIf the publishing houses sold ebooks for what the cost to produce and other overhead factors related specifically to the cost of the ebook, including marketing, they would still sell it significantly cheaper based on one simple fact. They aren’t going to be paying a bookstore a huge discount to carry the book. A website has a much lower operating cost. Kindle is the only one up to bookstore discounts because they are also paying for the cost of Internet connections for all the Kindles out there.
As an author, I sell my novel as an ebook for $4.99. That gives me the same royalty as the print version, and covers the cost of Kindle’s discount. The print list price is $16.49 if I recall correctly. Amazon sells it for $12.49.
A publisher would have some other cost to put into it, like more effective marketing, but they shouldn’t be trying to pay for their warehouse space with it, other than the hard disk it sits on, hosting fees, etc.
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:38 pmI can’t wait for the next time Charles Stross is on Cover to Cover – he’s written on this kerfuffle extensively, and comes down on more or less the opposite side, so hearing you guys (amicably) debate the topic would be great fun.
Personally I’m a fan of the reverse auction model that Baen employ with their webscriptions, and that I’ve heard it hinted that Macmillan were trying to do here (14.99 to 5.99, starting out at the top end and gradually dropping) . Of course, I doubt it would be quite so extreme – Baen start at $15 for e-Arcs and drop down to free, which I can’t see any of the NY publishers ever doing under any circumstances ever.
I’d pay $15 for an e-Arc if I was getting it before the hardback release and it was a book I really wanted to read (hint hint Queen’s Command hint hint). But then I’m a bit loony.
February 3rd, 2010 at 11:28 amThat lottery ticket dream is the downfall of just about every real-life possibility out there, isn’t it? You might even call it Marxist alienation.
February 3rd, 2010 at 2:48 pmThank you for sanity.
S.
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:11 pmShouldn’t these authors be campaigning for weaker glue as well? THAT would really drive up their repurchase rates! Yeah, it would make people buy hardback as well!
Or they might just stop reading. Que cera, cera.
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:18 pmWell said, and absolutely correct. Shame on those authors for wanting to double-dip. Double-shame on them for not realising how it will impact the all-important first sale.
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February 4th, 2010 at 7:24 amHey Mike, I like what you’re saying but I also wanted to see what you think about another side of it. I thought the reasoning behind supporting those authors at brick and mortar stores was that the life of a book can live or die by its initial sales figures. I know there are exceptions, but how does that figure into all of this for those McMillan authors who’s books were released during this Amazon/McMillan thing; they’re missing a lot of Amazon sales. You know a lot more about this than I do, and I always enjoy gleaning wisdom about writing and the industry from you. Thanks for all your great fiction, podcasting and posts!
February 4th, 2010 at 4:35 pmDan, it’s true that the first couple weeks of sales of a book can make a big difference in its life; but people who were disposed to buying that book would have bought it no matter what. If it was not available from Amazon, they would have gotten it elsewhere regardless.
What I don’t like about these appeals is that they make it sound like authors are starving. If they ARE, it has nothing to do with this battle. To suggest that Amazon wants to starve authors is nonsense. Moreover, it is up to Macmillan to take this sales failure on their part into consideration when deciding the future of any author’s career. Their inability or unwillingness to do this would be more my concern than anything Amazon does.
At least we know WHY Amazon drew a line in the sand. The strategies for publishers are so byzantine that Dan Brown couldn’t make sense of them.
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February 4th, 2010 at 5:26 pmI knew you would have a great answer, thanks Mike. Very good point, I agree – and you made me laugh pretty hard with that Dan Brown comment
February 4th, 2010 at 6:06 pmYeah, hysteria is all the rage these days, so I would expect no less from authors trying to make it during a recession. I can understand this knee-jerk reaction, but I hope they eventually learn to think things through. If the authors of our time do not promote critical thinking, how can we expect the general populace to do so? Our digital age is amplifying our ability to instantly inflict mass hysteria.
February 4th, 2010 at 6:51 pmMike, Thanks for the dose of sanity on this issue. Most authors seem ready to string Amazon up. It puzzles me a bit; I mean it takes two to tango. Either one of them could end this now. I think they are both behaving badly.
I am also puzzled by the energy authors put into defending the current publishing model and how eBooks can’t really be much cheaper to create. The times are changing, and the publishers and authors better get with it (present company excepted, you seem to have the eBook thing figured out).
February 4th, 2010 at 9:25 pmAnd the war continues:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/02/behold-the-amazon-effect-now-murdochs-gunning-for-the-10-e-book/
Oddly enough I thought that the prizes would drop now that there is an alternative to Kindle. I mean, Amazon has/had somewhat a monopoly on the ebook market. Now there’s a real competitor with iPad and the prices go up? Btw.: Amazon caved and now its flat $9.99 changed for some books to $13 – $15.
Another odd thing: Ebooks are sometimes(?) more expensive than paper books (look up e.g. “When Dragons Rage” on Amazon). I would never buy an ebook it the real book was cheaper.
February 5th, 2010 at 6:43 amI can only hope that authors will be able to take advantage of this new digital age and interact directly with their fans. The fans should have the power to decide whether or not a book sells well and not the publishers. Everyone deserves to be the master of his or her own fate and achieve success based on merit and not luck.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:03 amMaybe writers can learn from the music industry. It is similar. I think 2% of the content makes 98% of the profit(heard that number when I was working for Sony). That was a huge problem because as a seller when your space is limited and you could only store so many discs in your store, what do you choose?
That has or is changing. Nowadays companys like Sony make a lot of money with the small titles. Sure the big titles still hold more than the lions share, but the ratio slowly shifts. The assortment has become huge, choosing has become the greatest problem…
February 5th, 2010 at 11:08 am[...] post yesterday, Authors Can Be Stupid: Please Feed The Authors, can seem to have been rather unsympathetic to authors who are caught in the Amazon-Macmillan [...]
February 5th, 2010 at 11:55 amMike, great blog. Sure would love to see that original NY Times article.
One thing to note. I don’t think it’s unique to publishing that 5% of the products make the lion’s share of the profit. I think if you look at most companies the 80/20 rule applies. 20% of a service company’s clients usually make up 80% of the profit. 20% of products at a retailer make 80% of its profit. For example, the big profit items at McDonalds are fries and sodas (would you like some fries with that?). Now it might be that publishing is more extreme. We’d have to run numbers from various industries. But as long as each product contributes something above its fixed and variable costs, it helps the company’s bottom line.
So if publishing companies run as other companies, they will happily produce a lot of stock that isn’t making Stephenie Meyer amounts of cash for them that still contribute some profit to their bottom line. Of course, we’d need to see actual product line profit and loss statements to see if this is accurate. But I’m expecting it is.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:55 amWorking at a Big Box bookstore for 10 years really opened my eyes about the book biz — it’s incredibly wasteful, partly because they have built themselves on the grocery store model. They pay big, fat salaries to hundreds of executives they don’t need, it’s like they never did the math. More likely, they’ve applied some esoteric equation to their model to justify it, and now they’re bailing right and left. I’m glad I worked there, glad to be out of it now, and glad to have a way to publish and distribute my own titles now. It won’t take all that much success to make me feel it’s worthwhile, and if I tank, I can yell at the person responsible (me!).
February 5th, 2010 at 11:57 amWith the hard-copy publishing world changing so fast, the old “I’m published” game is going to get even harder.
To me, ebooks are great. There’s very little lag time between the author saying, “That’s a wrap.” and actually having it available to the public. We (authors) can promote on our own sites, send it out to places like Smashwords and probably within a week have their work available.
One nice part of that is we can keep our entire portfolio available. I remember way back when… I’d find one book by an author, really like it, and then look for more. Often, no joy. Sometimes could find more on line.
This Print (ebook and possibly Publish on Demand) vs Publish (old-line publishing houses as you describe) will probably be around a while. No matter what shakes out, the digital age enables us authors to have some control over what happens to our work.
Yes, there will still be “luck” but perhaps we can influence that a lot more.
February 5th, 2010 at 12:07 pmI, for one, welcome our new despotic overlords — namely, us. For authors that want to bust their ass, connect with fans, get in the mix and take control of their own audience generation and marketing, the future is a beautiful thing. For those authors, in three to five years there will not be a need for a publisher at all. While there are reasons the publishers give 8-12% of the cost of a book to the author, I, for one, would rather collect 100%. If I sell half the copies I do with a publisher, but make ten times the revenue per sale, I get much closer to those long walks in the woods just enjoying life.
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February 5th, 2010 at 1:02 pmthank you, excellent article.
I hope the Ipad opens up the digital market to books with graphics as well as text.
February 5th, 2010 at 1:45 pmMike I wanted to get your thoughts on what other authors like L.E. Modesitt, Jr. and Tobias Buckell have said. I actually lean towards your side of things, but they bring up what seem to be good points, BUT I’m still a rookie here so I don’t know.
Any insight you could offer would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve
February 5th, 2010 at 3:23 pmQuite interesting article, and quite an eye opener for those of us that are trying to get into the writing bussiness.
Thanks for writing it.
February 5th, 2010 at 3:33 pmThis situation demonstrates how authors who seemingly might think they are “independent” are really not. Those of us in the corporate world are beholden to the companies who we are employed with. Unfair things happen that are completely beyond our control (think layoffs, salary reductions, etc.). On the same hand, writers are beholden to their publishers. Again, unfair things happen beyond a writer’s control (Amazon decides to remove ‘buy’ buttons, for ex.).
Now, if there were a way for writers to maintain multiple projects going to different publishers they’d have some security and protection from this sort of thing. I know–writing takes time. But it still makes sense regardless. I hope this whole incident serves as a wake-up call to authors.
Freelancers are really not that different from the rest of us. They just get to work at home more.
February 5th, 2010 at 3:35 pmMike,
In point 3 of your summation, you state “publishers will be paying us substantially more for digital copies of our work than they do physical copies”. In my ignorance, could you clarify that for me? Is that because there is no printing cost or wholesale selling to distributors and all the other middlemen cuts that more of the sale goes to the author? Should that be “proportionally more” instead of “substantially”, or perhaps both?
As someone who just had his first solo work published (digitally), taking in no small part a lot of your advice from seminars at GenCon, I know I have more to learn and I appreciate your insights.
Thanks!
Geoff
February 6th, 2010 at 1:40 pmUnder current contracts, the ebook income is split between an author and publisher on a 50-50 basis. (Some of the most recent contracts have attempted to shift this to 25-75 in favor of the publishers.)
So, a print book pays 10% of the cover. Amazon and Apple will pay publishers 70% of the cover. Authors, then, will make 17.5 to 35% of the ebook retail price. An $8 paperback pays the author 80 cents. The same ebook will pay the author $2.80 or $1.40 depending on their share percentage. It will take 6-9 months for the author to get the money.
If he sells direct, he keeps $5.60 and gets it immediately.
February 6th, 2010 at 1:55 pmI would gladly pay $12-$25 dollars for a copy of your next Talion book, in any format. I have often wondered why there has been no sequel to my favorite book. Thank you for providing me with much entertainment with your writing and may you have continued success.
February 6th, 2010 at 3:21 pmSocial comments and analytics for this post…
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February 6th, 2010 at 3:24 pmMike,
Great post!
OK, you are in support of the dreaded “self publishing” that most writers with publishers swear is a horrible thing to do. My question is: do you support this at the beginning or only after a writer is traditionally published and have started gathering an audience?
Thanks
February 6th, 2010 at 4:50 pmAs a reader, this sounds like a good idea up until one point: the fracturing of formats. I don’t want to have to install a different application on my iPhone for each author; I’d rather just download files in a standardized format (which means not PDF, since it’s worthless for ebooks on anything but paper; ePub is my preference, but I’d settle for something else open that I can convert as necessary) that I can use with my reader of choice.
I enjoyed Talion: Revenant and would buy Nemesis if I can read it on my iPhone comfortably.
February 6th, 2010 at 5:24 pmRobert,
At this point in time, because we are in transition, you have to do BOTH. Self-publish samples to build your audience, use traditional audiences to reach those who are not comfortable yet with digital.
More on the Myth of Established Authors through the link.
February 6th, 2010 at 7:50 pmAndrew,
A week or so ago I posted about epub as the coming format. I will be supporting it because, like you, I think being able to port stuff between machines is a good idea. I made that decision before i learned the iPad would support epub, but the subsequent news makes the wisdom of my foresight even more pleasing.
MIke
February 6th, 2010 at 7:51 pmI had thought that you had, but I only thought to look at the store, not at old blog posts. I’m glad that you reminded me of that, and I look forward to it.
February 6th, 2010 at 9:05 pmGosh DARN it publishers! I want that Talion Sequel!!!
(no chance of reselling the rights since it’s out of print?)
And having willing fans do it: um, YEAH! (nt that I’m volunteering. Unless I have a fan of my own who will grade all these lab reports.)
February 6th, 2010 at 9:38 pmI would gladly pay for a new Talion book Mike.
I would also gladly pay for that Merlin Bloodstone novel I thought you mentioned at one point, and that In Hero Years…I’m Dead novel you mentioned during national write a novel month a few years back.
Also, I have 2 friends that I know would also buy a Talion sequel, or any books you want to publish digitally, as they are very much into digital readers.
I admittedly prefer reading books over anything in a digital format, the feel, the texture, the smell are all just so much more pleasing to me than reading anything on a screen. However, I will gladly support such a format if it enables exciting authors, such as yourself, to continue to put out entertaining work and actually be read!
I am a huge fan of Robert E Howard, and have continued to try and collect his entire works. Reading about finding that huge trunk filled with his previously unknown works, and thinking how those could have been lost to the world is just tragic. The idea that much of it was lost before Glenn Lord found it is equally disappointing.
However, if someone had not taken that interest in Howard and unearthed so many of his unpublished stories (ranging from excellent to clearly juvenile efforts) they would have been mostly lost to the reading public.
Howard died young so he was more unique, but it just goes to show that it is very likely we have lost many great stories over the years from talented authors simply because they were deemed “unpublishable” due to the climate of the time or what-have-you.
The idea that digital publishing may allow many authors to get their content out to the world, good or bad it may still entertain, and not be lost is just exciting. I will support any format that allows that to happen, as well as continuing to support book buying of authors I like.
bring ‘em on Mike. I think I have bought almost everything from your store already, by all means, put up more!
February 6th, 2010 at 10:14 pmI couldn’t agree more. I mean, some people are so passionate about disparaging self-publishing. In my mind, I honestly don’t see that my two pubs are doing anything that increases my sales. So the idea of me doing it myself and keeping more of the money sounds like a great idea to me. I just see opportunity.
Of course, I won’t only self-publish and drop everything else. Having one’s hands in a lot of pots is always good… Diversify and all that: important in stock markets and writing.
I just need to write faster. Always that whip. *sigh*
February 6th, 2010 at 11:28 pmAlthough I am confused about one thing. Why do you have to “choose a format?” Pick a side and swear by ePub? Why not just put it out there in all formats? It’s easy-peasy to put it in another format. I’ve never self-pubbed, but I’ve helped others convert things. It’s not like you HAVE to choose a side…
February 6th, 2010 at 11:32 pmNatasha,
It’s not so much that you have to choose a format, it’s just that there are three right now that you should have covered: Kindle, epub and PDF. Once you have them nailed down, you’re good on virtually all the devices available. Going beyond those things isn’t going to substantially increase your sales, as I understand it.
February 6th, 2010 at 11:36 pmI would be all over a Talion sequel. I’ve been hoping for that for years…and I know at least three other people who feel the same way (I introduced them to your work and have encouraged them to buy all your other works as well). And all your blogs about digital publishing have been a huge help to my friend and I who have not had a lot of luck in getting stories published. Thank you for all you do.
February 7th, 2010 at 12:06 amMike, here’s my vote for Talion: Nemisis, In Hero Years I’m Dead and The Merlin Bloodstone book. I’ve enjoyed all the Bloodstone stories and would love the novel. Also, I want to say that I totally agree with this series of post. I ranted about this over on Dean Wesley Smith’s blog so I won’t do it here, but I think that you’re really hitting the nail on the head here. Great posts.
I think I like the name of these posts even better than Dean Wesley Smith’s Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing, though his cover is better.
You have to get a book cover. Maybe one of some authors in a zoo?
Anyway, thanks Mike.
Cheers,
Steve
February 7th, 2010 at 1:50 amI couldn’t agree more. Mike. The way writers (and some writer’s organizations) have responded to the Amazon/Macmillian dust-up both during and after, is at best silly, and at worst shameful. It was all over before anyone knew it, and this week’s snow-storms are going to hurt sales far more than this little incident did.
They were far too quick to side, loudly and publicly, with Macmillian. (Neither party here is on the writer’s “side.” Both companies are acting in what they see as they own best interest, and the writer be damned.) And now they’re celebrating their “victory.”
(Never mind that this is only an opening shot in what promises to be a long and difficult war, and that it isn’t even clear that Amazon “lost.” They’ve now made a show of standing up to Macmillian to satisfy the vocal contingent of price-protesting Kindle owners, and can pass blame to the publishers — and possibly the writers as well. By doing this on a weekend when on-line activity is off anyway, Amazon probably didn’t loose much in sales, and avoided much mainstream media coverage.)
I’m especially amused (and a little disgusted) that SFWA has made a big show of moving all the affiliate links on their sites away from Amazon, and resetting many to “indebooks.com,” a site which announces front-and-center on its front page that it now features Google’s “search-inside-the-book,” another one of those things that writers are supposed to be upset about for somewhat dubious reasons. (I keep hearing about how SFWA has changed for the better, but by running off half-cocked with another ill-considered response to a minor incident, they’ve proved they’re still the same as the bad-old-days.)
Calm down, people! This is nothing! Its way early to be choosing up sides, especially with such a dubious list of allies to chose from. The side we should be on is our OWN.
The changes in publishing represent the best opportunity in 50 years to get a better deal on how and how much we’re paid for out work. Are we working on that? No. We’re busy fighting for a status-quo that just can’t stand, no matter what anyone does.
Times, they-are-a-changin’, and while some people will get hurt, there are new opportunities for everyone out there with the vision to see them.
February 7th, 2010 at 4:41 amGreat post, Mike. I’ve made my two books available in four formats. PDF, epub, mobi(Kindle), and pdb(ereader). That last is still used and runs on Palm pilots primarily, but it also has a great program to read on the computer…the best out there by far. So I like to make that one available as well.
Personally, I prefer reading on my IPod Touch. So any books I buy, I would rather have them digital.
February 7th, 2010 at 5:11 amLooking forward to seeing that Talion sequel, would definately purchase given the chance. Mind you if it should happen to show up on some service such as blurb so that I could place it on the bookshelf next to it’s predecessor I’d be ecstatic.
February 7th, 2010 at 7:51 amI don’t see why the choice seems to be between big publishers and self publishing (or both). That would mean each author must have his or her own store front on their own site and/or major online stores (like Amazon). Why don’t groups of authors get together to create group store fronts? That way the store front leverages the “established audiences” of each author to the potential benefit of all of them? That way fans wouldn’t have to know a name in order to find a good author’s work.
February 7th, 2010 at 12:35 pmBobman, it’s not either/or, it’s all of the above. Authors can and should join together on projects to leverage audiences, but you’re missing a key point.
As an author you simply must have a website. You must make efforts to drive traffic to your website so folks know what you are doing. And since you have a website, you might as well sell your stuff from your website and make the website pay for itself, if nothing else.
The goal is to maximize profit. Sure, putting your work on a variety of sites so folks can find it is great; but since you will make the most selling your work off your website, each author should start there and work outward.
February 7th, 2010 at 1:01 pmSigler’s comment mirrors my own view, except I’m on more of a ten year plan. But hell, it could happen in 3-5 years. My novella has done better so far than I expected. So we’ll see. But everything in the original post here is EXACTLY why I went indie and why I’m baffled by the people who consider indie authorship “not a viable business model.” We’ll see.
February 7th, 2010 at 1:22 pmI *think* this old blog post of mine links back to the original article Mike is referring to. (I think we’re referencing the same article): http://zoewinters.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/publishing-industry-stumped/ (Sorry for the linky dink, but some might find it interesting/amusing.)
February 7th, 2010 at 1:30 pmI would also like to see the Talion sequel in whatever form. That was the first book of yours I ever read and have bought all your books since then. Thanks.
February 7th, 2010 at 4:26 pmMike,
Gotcha! Thanks for the reply and the clarification.
Geoff
February 7th, 2010 at 5:21 pmBack in 1997 I had a novel come out titled Talion: Revenant. The book sold well over 50,000 copies here, and sold in Germany. I already have the start on a sequel: Talion: Nemesis. Since Bantam has rejected me, they don’t want the sequel. Because they hold the rights to the first book, no other publisher wants to pick up the sequel, despite the strong sales figures and the fact that this is the single most requested volume for a sequel that I’ve got.
Hiya, Mike. I just recently discovered your blog.
I’m completely dumbfounded at this whole scenario. Are other publishers reluctant to take up Nemesis for no other reason than that Bantam owns Revenant? Or are there other contractual considerations that come into play?
February 7th, 2010 at 5:31 pmEverything you claim makes sense, and the numbers, at first blush, seem to add up. This nonetheless means that a new Macmillan hardcover title that sells for $25 in its physical form should sell for $20 digitally. That’s twice what Amazon wants to price it at. Now, Amazon doesn’t sell ANYTHING at list price; that $25 book is usually about $13.50 on their site. But they’ve paid the publisher a percentage of list price already, so they’re eating their OWN profits to increase sales, not Macmillan’s. This is why Macmillan wanted to shift its sales model on digital books to function in the same manner as physical ones; so that they get paid what they think they should regardless of what Amazon does. Your math would seem to support Macmillan’s argument.
The problem on the other side, of course, is one of the public’s perceived value (or lack thereof) of digital versions. Lots of people I’ve spoken with about this insist that $9.99 feels too high to pay for a digital download. You can’t hold it, loan it out, sell it, or prop open a creaky door with it. There is no visual evidence of quality and substance. I’ve even had friends tell me that, because they cannot share the book, they and their spouse have each purchased copies of the same title. Because they are, in effect, paying for a service instead of a product (a license, if you will, to read a digital version of said product), they feel it should cost them much less.
I see both sides of the issue. I certainly don’t have many answers right now, although I disagree with the people who insist that drastically lowering the cost of a digital book to somewhere in the neighborhood of $2-$3 — because it becomes an impulse buy, at that point — will cause sales to explode exponentially. The audience is still finite in size, and if that becomes the model for selling ebooks, there will so many more to choose from that yours will still get lost in the choosing for many people. You can lower the cost of lobster to pennies on the pound, but I can still only eat so much at a time.
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February 7th, 2010 at 6:31 pmMike, I would love to buy a new Tailon book, as I see others have already posted. I think that the means of distribution of fiction, and the availability of works of fiction will amaze us all.
February 7th, 2010 at 8:04 pmMy problem is that I become a fan of authors, and can not “get into” the works of other authors. Fortunately, some of these authors have found various means of making some of their work available through their websites.
Hopefully, in the near future, the access to the different types of formats and readers will be sorted out as I live in dread of getting caught as Beta model when everybody else uses VHS.
Interesting analysis, and you don’t even get into how a reader’s buying habits change once he buys an eReader. Two salient traits are buying more new books (usually by a factor or two or three times more), and in some cases, buying ebooks versions of already owned print books (some of us find that once you get used to digital reading, it’s hard to go back to print).
Your backlist comment is particularly related to this second trait. I happen to be a fan of Georgette Heyer and own all her books in paperback. She’s been dead for decades and her list is owned by different people. Several or her titles are now available in the Kindle store priced between $0.99 and $9.99. I bought the two that were under $6.00. These books first came out in hardback before the Korean War. Is it a wonder Kindle owners think publishers are all greedy? I don’t actually. I think you’re correct that they’re simply trying to prop up the un-prop-upable. They’re pricing these ebooks based on the version they have out in print– cheaper if its mass market paper, more if it’s hardback or trade paper– without regard to the fact that there is revenue to be made from eReader-owners if the prices are more reasonable for the age of the book.
eBooks offer an opportunity to make book publishing a growth industry for the first time in a long time. It’s hard to learn to swim if you refuse to stop treading water.
February 7th, 2010 at 10:02 pmI was actually going through this trying to find out if you had gotten back the rights to sell Talion:Revenant on your own as an ebook. I managed to read my copy to death. It’s probably one of the few books I’ve actually done that to instead of just the exaggerated claim. I would be all over Talion:Nemesis.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:13 amThomas, my numbers would seem to support Macmillan’s argument except for two facts.
1) The higher price for hardbacks has nothing to do with the fact that the book is slightly larger and has a hard cover. Trade paperbacks, printed to the same size, without the hard cover and wrap, sell for $10 less than the hardcover equivalent. Hardbacks are a premium because publishers want to get the extra money out of people who can’t wait. How do we know this? Because the publishers have said so, and they’re fully willing to “window” or deliver slightly later, the ebook at a lower price.
2) As I pointed out, publishers have no data to suggest/prove that ebook sales cannibalize physical book sales. From the game industry we have proof that they do NOT cannibalize physical book sales. Add to that the fact that publishers maintain the ebook market is too small now and that it’s insignificant. They want to paint it one way for one argument, the other way for another argument. It’s all smoke and mirrors.
I agree that pricing novels around the $1-$2 area, save for promotional purposes, is contra-indicated. I like $5 for a novel, $12 for a trilogy omnibus, but that’s just me.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:46 amIt’s not contractual considerations, its simply that frontlist (a new book) drives backlist (old books). Since they will not profit from the backlist sales of that series, they’re not interested in frontlisting a new book. It’s understandable, if a bit shortsighted.
And frustrating as hell.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:48 amZoe, great article. Thanks for sharing it.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:50 am$5 is the sweet spot I think. At that price consumers will by books speculatively. they’ll click a link in a review in and buy the ebook and maybe or maybe not read it in the future. The benefits of hitting that area vastly outweigh the benefits of higher per unit prices, in my view.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:39 amI first read Talion: Revenant years ago.. I’ve been waiting for a sequel ever since. I no longer live in the US, and I usually use ebooks to keep up with books I want to read these days (buying english language books are so damned expensive here), but even if an e-version weren’t made available I’d comb through the bookstores here to find it and pay the outrageous prices. And if all else failed, I would order the book online, have it sent to a friend in the US, who could send it to me, along with the requisite shipping costs.
February 8th, 2010 at 11:25 amChris,
You should see an ebook version of Talion: Revenant very soon.
February 8th, 2010 at 11:37 amGreat article, Mike.
One other thing that the publishers seem to be missing is that print books get lent and resold very often, while digital ones, at least those with DRM, don’t. Authors and publishers don’t get a cut of used bookstore sales, and they certainly don’t make any money when I lend a book to a friend, so very often five or more people will read a book for every copy that is sold. Now, if I buy a book for my Kindle, at most two people (my wife and I) will read it. So, from a revenue-per-reader standpoint, digital wins again.
February 8th, 2010 at 11:44 amA bit shortsighted? I’d say incredibly shortsighted. They’re stepping over dollars just to pick up a few dimes. That business model makes no sense to me. What I mean is…
Okay, so the sales of a new book will help drives sales of an older book. The older publisher doesn’t want you, but the new one does. You’ve got a built-in audience that has clearly stated that they’re interested in a sequel. If you continue to write sequels, who will stand to profit the most? Clearly, the publisher of the sequels.
Further, if not owning the rights to the older book is the issue, then why not offer to buy those rights from the older publisher? Strikes me as a GOOD BUSINESS decision in the long run.
I’ve been reading lots of stuff lately (at Dean Wesley Smith’s site and elsewhere) on how bad writers tend to be at business, but this, to me, sounds like even publishers aren’t terribly good at business, either. Methinks there might be a market for a ‘rogue’ publisher who is actually interested in writers in your situation and helping themselves and writers like you to make more money.
I can understand why it’s frustrating for you. To my way of thinking, however, they’re freakin’ insane!
Finally, this sort of scenario also strikes me as a somewhat compelling argument AGAINST writing series novels.
February 8th, 2010 at 12:22 pmJust to clarify: Further, if not owning the rights to the older book is the issue, then why not offer to buy those rights from the older publisher? Strikes me as a GOOD BUSINESS decision in the long run.
I was speaking in reference to what the new publisher could/should do.
February 8th, 2010 at 12:24 pmI just got my Amazon Kindle from amazon.com and all I want to say is goodbye to paper but I think the iPad will be kill the Kindle from Amazon
February 8th, 2010 at 1:23 pmYour recent posts about ebooks and the electronic market are fascinating, and I agree with you that these new markets provide a great deal of opportunity for writers.
But what about readers? I, personally, don’t see the point in spending a few hundred dollars on an ereader that is essentially a delivery device. So if writers start publishing their work almost exclusively electronically, how will new readers–or low-income readers–ever have a chance to read their work?
My feeling is that there is already a few hundred years worth of literature that is available used. And while I buy books new occasionally to support current authors I admire, I still haven’t been convinced that I need to read electronically. And until a tablet-like computer comes out that can replace my laptop for all my computing needs, I don’t see the need to buy such a device.
February 8th, 2010 at 2:45 pmInteresting post. But “The whole stigma connected with self-publishing is akin to the stigma of being gay, or interracial marriage” gives me the creeps – people might look down on self-publishers, but they don’t tend to beat them up.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:30 pmIndie publishing will inevitably become the next big thing in the world of fiction, and rightly so. If authors are required to market and sell their own work, it will force them to re-examine their core audience and tailor their work accordingly. Everyone benefits. Authors will earn more and be paid based heavily on merit. Readers will then have a wider selection of fiction. After all, a great author is one who connects will with his or her audience.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:51 pmMike,
February 8th, 2010 at 4:55 pmJust wanted to commend you for these very helpful and honest posts. Great job! You’re a pioneer in the new publishing frontier.
People who self-publish might not be physically beaten, but they are commonly held up to derision by people who are traditionally published. The abuse, then, can be mental and inflicted under the guise of wit. It is no less painful in that case.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:31 pmCasey, there are two factors here to remember. First, the material that can be read on any of the readers can be read on your computer with the same ease you’re reading this, using software that is free. Second, the price of readers is going to plummet as we get more reading devices and as we get reading software on devices you might already own. Smartphones all allow reading and many people carry them with them everywhere. So, while you’re right that the dedicated readers are expensive now, the prices will fall. And the discounted prices of new material may make it worth your while to invest in one at some point in the future.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:35 pmMike,
Ah, so it sounds as though your math was calculated against the cost of a typical mass-market paperback, not a HC. I didn’t get that in the original post.
There might not be any evidence of cannibalization of physical sales right now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t at some point in the future, when ebooks become the norm rather than the exception. If you sell the digital version of a new bestseller for $5 at the same time the HC goes on sale for $25 in today’s market, you are setting a precedent. There’s no way to know for sure how much of an increase there will be in sales overall when digital becomes the norm rather than the exception. If $5 isn’t sustainable as a price point, it’s too late to raise prices back up; the consumer has already been conditioned to expect it lower. Go down that road, and you can never turn back. THAT’S what the publishers fear.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:24 pmOkay, these last few posts have convinced me to purchase one of your writing books. Amazing stuff. I’m looking at two in particular: 21 Days to a Novel or Writing Fiction. I write mostly novels, so I’m leaning toward 21 Days. Which would you recommend?
Also: Do you suggest new, currently unpublished writers go the self-publishing route? Or is this a paradigm currently more suited to those authors who have already made a name for themselves in print?
Thanks!
February 8th, 2010 at 9:18 pmNote, the following comments only apply to fiction from authors that I have no previous knowledge about.
Sampling only works if a reader values his time at, oh about zero. Using reviews and the like of published authors, I find new authors I like about 1/3 times. With self-publishing, because of the ease of getting books out, even with reviews, it’s about 1/200. I’m either spending $30 for three new paperbacks or $0 for 200 sample chapters.
However, if my leisure time is worth $20/hr and I give a book an hour for me to determine if it’s worth it, then I’m spending about $90 for three new paperbacks, or about $4,000 for 200 sample chapters.
Now it’s not quite that bad as the worst of e-books can be tossed within 15 minutes, but still, the point is there. Sampling is *not* free.
If I’m going to gamble my precious leisure time, I want a guarantee that someone who isn’t the author and who has no emotional attachment to the book believes so strongly that I’m going to like this book that they’re willing to put up $50K or so of their own money. Which is what a publisher does.
Having said that, I think self-publishing serves certain already existing markets well. However, for finding a brand-new author, I’m *highly* dubious about this brave new world.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:34 pm[...] Established authors do not have a leg up on new authors in this digital world. My previous post on The Myth of the Established Author makes my feelings very clear on this point. Those who would dismiss everything I’m saying [...]
February 8th, 2010 at 9:52 pmDo you honestly think a publisher invests $50,000 in a new book by an unknown author? Really? In my experience, it’s no where near close enough.
You have a valid point that sampling costs you time, and that time can have a value put on it. Fair enough. And as digital publishing picks up, you’ll find review sites that begin to cover digital work. You’ll have your reviews to point you to new folks; and the really good authors being published digitally will be picked up for print publication.
As long as you know what you like, and know what you’re willing to spend to find more of what you like, you’re not going to get taken, and that’s a very good thing.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:05 pmEither of those books will suit you well. They actually parallel each other, approaching the same content from different examples. If you like structure and doing exercises, then 21 Days is for you. Otherwise, the Writing Fiction course will work, and it has sample stories that you can read to boot.
If you look at the next post on my website, I reference an essay on established authors in this new world of digital publishing.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:07 pmWriting is akin to a small business (because that’s essentially what it is). a small business depends as much on word-of-mouth advertising as anything else. Sampling works in conjunction with word-of-mouth. Put out a good product and people will find it.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:42 pmHard work is always the key to surviving in the entertainment industry as only the best and brightest ever make it to the top. I would expect no less from the world of writing. Actually, I would expect authors to have an even harder time these days as more people seem drawn to visual entertainment offerings more readily than their print counterparts (thanks James Cameron).
February 9th, 2010 at 12:04 am