News and Notices from the Writing Trenches # 109…
Item. Anne Frank. Strange happenings here. Was that book only based on her diary? The recent extension of the copyright has been celebrated by some and decried by others. The case opens the Pandora box of copyright law yet again. Of course, the only reason that there’s a polemic is that there’s a lot of money involved. For some reason, I thought this was all settled when the movie came out, but I guess I’m wrong. Makes you think about copyrights for your own books if you’re an author. Be sure and put that copyright statement in the front of your ebook, and get an ISBN, not just an ASIN for it, because that will help establish your copyright too. In fact, also put the copyright statement on each MS.
Item. Some stats about pbooks v. ebooks. In a digest by Jonathan Stolper of some recent Nielsen’s data, the pbook v. ebook split is now 74%/26%, but the ratio varies widely by genre. Makes me wish I could afford some pbooks if that ratio holds true for mysteries, thrillers, and sci-fi (I still need the genre-specific stats to make a wise decision on that, plus some cash I don’t have). Decisions, decisions. I’d like to reach more readers obviously, but I’ve decided to start making some of my ebooks no longer Amazon exclusive and put them up on Smashwords too, which distributes to places like Apple, B&N, and Kobo.
There are three formats to keep in mind: ebooks, pbooks, and audiobooks. The Nielsen’s summary I read didn’t even mention the latter, but they make the day for many people with long commutes. Unfortunately, we poor slobs AKA indie writers are faced with three different ways to invest the royalties from our previous books until we hit it big. That can be daunting. I’ve always assumed ebooks would take off, but Nielsen’s says otherwise. What do you think?
Item. Suffering characters. I’ve come to the conclusion that writers are sadists. I’ve attempted to find an example of a major story I’ve read where the protagonist does NOT step outside of her or his comfort zone to survive a stressing challenge. Of course, even in real life, we like to hear tales about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Even fairy tales trend that way. And think of all that stress on the tortoise trying to beat the hare. Has anyone read a novel where the protagonist just waltzes through the story without having anything challenging happen to them? Sounds pretty boring, right? Maybe writers are sadists with respect to their characters because readers are addicted to that tension and release. Sounds like a thesis topic for a psych student.
Item. Holiday book promotions. I’ve received several “offers” along the following lines: “For X$, you can include your book in our holiday catalog.” I have no idea if that’s smart or not. You can give an ebook to someone with a gift coupon and so forth, but if you want something tangible for a gift, it needs to be a pbook (see above). Summer catalogs (reading on the beach, and so forth) present a similar quandary. Has anyone done this? Was it effective? Considering some of the values of X, I wonder if it’s not more cost effective to pursue other forms of marketing.
Item. Speaking of marketing…. Writers, always carry your business cards. I’ve found many opportunities to answer “Oh, you’re a writer. What do you write?” by handing the person a business card. Don’t clutter your card. Give your name, genre, a few titles (in my case, I list my series plus “…and other books”), your email, and website (don’t have one? Get one!). I do NOT recommend including address and telephone number. You can always write those on the back of the card (leave it blank for things like that). Do you pay some of your bills by snail mail? Slip a card in. Do you have medical and dental appointments? Take your cards. Professionals in these offices are often readers and know other readers. Clients in these offices are often reading books—strike up a conversation and look for the opportunity to hand out your card. I have no idea how effective this all is, but it’s not that expensive to do it.
Item. Time management. Many writers—I was one—started their writing careers with day jobs and many continue with them because it’s not easy to make a good living writing in spite of all the testimonials you’ll see at the end of magazines. In addition to those business cards (see above), always carry along a few sheets of paper in your pocket or purse and a pen. Ideas can come to you at any time. You might even want them close at hand. It might drive your significant other up the wall, but if an idea comes to you in the wee hours of the morning, get up and jot it down. If you’re in the john enjoying a shower or some bodily R&R and an idea comes, jot it down ASAP. This material starts adding up (writing ideas, hopefully not the results of the bodily R&R). Some of my best ideas have occurred in the john (loo for my UK readers). Maybe that won’t work for you because you listen to heavy metal when you’re doing your business, but there will be plenty of situations where you’ll lose track of the idea if you don’t make a note of it.
In elibris libertas….
