Worse than Vampires vs Werewolves

While sitting in on a recent editorial meeting between Steve and a few authors, I learned the answer to a question I hadn't even thought of to ask. Luckily, the authors asked it for me.

Why is it that so many authors dislike their publishers?

I had no idea that authors disliked their publishers. Call me naive, conceited, or delusional, but I always just figured that authors held their publishers in a state of reverence. I mean, without a publisher, where would you be? Self-published with an Amazon ranking in the six digits, right? Right??

Not necessarily. However, this doesn't dissuade authors from attempting to get published anyway (close to 80 rejections so far this summer). The problem usually occurs sometime after the contract has been signed, often after the manuscript has been turned in, and before the book hits the shelves.

Often authors feel ignored and discarded after they've turned in the final manuscript. They've relinquished their rights and powers to this formidable publishing company and now feel like they've pulled the short straw in this bargain. In retaliation, authors contact the publishing company--anyone who will tell them what's going on really--which causes the publishers to regard the authors as pains in our bottom-line bottoms and thus exacerbate the cycle.

This is when authors start looking to Berrett-Koehler for their next book. I've talked to a number of authors who have published books with large, corporate publishing firms. In many cases these same companies have agreed to publish future books, but the authors were so dissatisfied with the treatment they received that they choose to work with Berrett-Koehler instead. Steve explained why.

In the course of the meeting, Steve invited the authors to contact anyone from Berrett-Koehler at any time, including himself. He gave them some guidance as to who they should contact for what kinds of questions, but reiterated that the most important part of sustaining a working partnership is frequent communication. "If a month goes by without you hearing from us or us hearing from you, that's a problem."

No other publishing company does this. They view authors as nuisances; we view them as partners. This concept of author-publisher partnership is the key to the successful relationships that BK enjoys with its many authors.

I Matter

E-Grammarian

The internet is full of snarky grammarians:

The Grammar Vandal
The Grammar Blog: Mocking Poor Grammar
Motivated Grammar: Prescriptivism Must Die
The Grammarphobia Blog

But I'm going to out-snark them all.

FREEconomics?

Yes, I know. There are too many puns in the world of economics. This is what literary types resort to when we write about subjects far outside the realm of our expertise. The worst is, I can't even take credit for this particular punishment. (I'm stalling.)

Chris Anderson, editor of Wired and author of Free, wrote this article last year about why the cost of information and digital resources should be free. Music, books, newspapers, games--all should be, nay, will inevitably be, freely available to anyone with a computer and an internet connection. His argument is compelling and sensational and you should all read the article, if not the whole book. Although you can spend almost thirty dollars on his book at Amazon, Anderson lives us to the premise of his argument and offers his book, in its entirety, free on Scribd.

If, however, you're skeptical, you can read Malcolm Gladwell's rebuttal. Gladwell challenges all of the premises of Anderson's argument and, frankly, cuts it to shreds.

However, I can't help but be amazed that I found all this information--articles, reviews, the book itself--without paying a dime. The two economists/philosophers/erudite scholars can debate this until one or neither is proved right, but, as a lay person, I can't help but believe Anderson's prediction.

It seems to be a reflection of my generation's sense of entitlement to digital content. First it was music--sure, Napster may be a relic, but if you want free music, there are still plenty of options--now it's everything from iPhone apps to software to phone calls. The music industry, at least, has backpedaled. The iTunes store now offers individual song downloads for 99 cents. Many iPhone apps are also 99 cents.

The thing is, the difference between free and 99 cents is huge. In all my years as an Apple user, I have never paid for a song, a podcast, or an app. I have taken advantage of their free downloads, but this has never been incentive enough to pay for any of these things. Anderson's argument rests on his belief that a profitable relationship can be generated by giving away free products to consumers. This is a two step process: they give something away for free so that we will feel compelled to purchase something else.

In one model, he's correct. Assuming iTunes does begin giving everything away for free--the program itself has always been free--Apple will still make money from selling its computers, iPods, and iPhones. But how can this apply to book publishing?

Anderson practices one model: he offers his book for free online but still offers a paper version, to be sold for money, on Amazon. This action seems to be emphasizing that what you are paying for is paper and ink, not the information itself. Still, the book is selling well--over 6,000 copies sold since its release earlier this month. And, of course, with every book he sells and every download he gives away, his name recognition and fame grow, as does his marketability. If it's not one thing it's another.

Harry Potter and the Unsentimentor

Transitioning to Digital?

This recent article from Slate, by Jack Shafer, highlights some of the growing tension occurring within the publishing world over how to cope with the growing popularity of e-books. On the one hand, the sales of digital material are increasing, even doubling or tripling, with time. However, when we compare the numbers we see jumps from three books a month to six books a month--hardly pension-securing. But still, with the emerging popularity of the Amazon's Kindle and the promise of an even better e-reader, digital releases are a big issue for Berrett-Koehler.

One of the biggest problems, as highlighted by the article, is pricing:

"Amazon and the others insist on selling most e-books for about $9.99, which pleases the publishers when the e-book retail price is close to that of the paper edition...The publishers dislike the rigidity of the e-book price, however, when the hardcover lists for $27.95 and Amazon sells it at a loss for $9.99."

Publishers are afraid that such a discrepancy in pricing will encourage readers to buy the much cheaper e-book, dramatically cutting into their profits. They're also afraid that by pricing every e-book similarly, Amazon is effectively capping the pricing potential for every new book. Just as no one is willing to pay more than $.99 for a song download, people will become accustomed to paying $9.99 for a book download.

Jack Shafer predicts that as publishers fight to increase the prices of e-books, readers will simply turn to the e-legacy of pirating and bootlegging. Why even pay $9.99 when you can safely steal Grisham's latest title from Napster's nerdy cousin site?

E-Community Building

Check out CV Harquail's blog Authentic Organizations which discusses the effectiveness of certain companies and practices with an emphasis on "aligning identity, action, and purpose." She has a lot of great things to say about this blog and about Berrett-Koehler. It's also a very thoughtful and interesting blog in general--definitely worth reading.