News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #130…
Busy summer. When I announced the reorg of this blog, my excuse was that I needed to dedicate more time to my writing. I’ve done that, but that’s only partly the reason that there hasn’t been much news about the writing business to comment on. That’s more due to things slowing down in the lazy summertime (for some folks, anyway, but not me)—readers might buy books or load up their e-readers for vacations and beach trips, but publishers take a hiatus too, if we discount media blasts about politics. Things will start turning around as we get into the fall. So, here we go!
A coup for Big Five’s Penguin/Random House? I’m talking about the reading program “Subway Reads” where NYC’s subway straphangers will have access to free reads by “major authors,” short stories and novella and novel excerpts, all blessed (and owned) by this publisher. Because NYC is the mecca of too-big-to-fail publishing conglomerates, I’m guessing the MTA only accepted bids from the Big Five. Heaven forbid they feature indies or small imprints!
Of course, why they chose Penguin/Random House (that’s what was reported—others in the Big Five might be involved) and didn’t contract with ebook distributors (Amazon and Smashwords) that often have free ebooks available is easily explained: the city doesn’t like indies or small imprints and they don’t like Amazon or Smashwords. But let’s consider the good, the bad, and the ugly of all this in more detail.
The good: Getting more people reading is a great thing, and maybe offering freely available material on the MTA’s “new” wi-fi system (read “old” because some company selling old technology probably got a sweetheart deal from MTA commissioners—Tip O’Neill’s adage about all politics being local should really be that the more local it is, the dirtier it becomes) will do just that (it would be better if what’s free weren’t controlled by the Big Five, of course). I see people reading already on longer subway and train rides and bus commutes, using other devices than e-readers for the most part (smartphones and tablets). Car drivers on long commutes tend to prefer audiobooks, though—turn up the volume and you don’t have to listen to the road rage around you or even your passengers (they might have something worthwhile to talk about on the next journey!).
The bad: I’m expecting an upswing in stolen devices if this subway reading program becomes popular. Maybe some more violent altercations too as more people get distracted (this already occurs, of course—a New Yorker studying at Ithaca College was knifed to death for just bumping a girl at a Cornell U party!). Online newspapers will have more competition, although I expect commuters accustomed to reading the Boston Globe, NY Times, or Washington Post online will continue to do so. Still, readers might be tempted to avoid the news—who wants to hear about another mugging or rape in the five boroughs when you can read a Lee Child short (maybe about another mugging or rape, but it’s fiction)? (Will Boston and DC also create such a program?)
The ugly: Penguin/Random House is launching a thinly veiled advertising campaign here, hoping that the short stuff will lead to purchases of longer books. (Considering that they’re still in the 20th century with their emphasis on print books, this seems contradictory—read online, buy paper?) I don’t know how much the MTA will give them (again, will transit authorities in Boston and DC fork over money too, maybe even more?), but the publisher will undoubtedly write off the remainder as advertising costs as it enjoys its monopoly over straphangers. An advertising campaign at least, a monopoly at worst, if not Penguin/Random House, then the Big Five, who are to publishing what big banks are to Wall Street. Give me an indie writer’s or small imprint’s novel, novella, or short story collection any day.
Hey, MTA! Consider my free PDFs! (See below.)
Facebook. Readers of this blog might forget I’m on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorStevenMMoore/. I usually announce this blog’s articles that will appear each week at the beginning of the week there (I share them with Google+). I also make short posts about books (including mine), other authors (including some “classics”), and short news items about the writing business, as a complement to articles and this newsletter, which, as you’ve seen, is sporadic. If you like what you see on Facebook, put a “like” on the page.
Goodreads. I’m also on Goodreads, more as a reader than a writer. Whereas members of the Facebook audience have many different tastes and agendas, to say the least, participants on Goodreads are laser-focused on reading and writing, which represent 99% of my interests right now too. I love the discussion groups there. Facebook v. Goodreads are like going to a new bar to make new friends v. going to Cheers “where everybody knows your name.” You can follow me there as well. And, unlike Facebook, I can share all my blog posts there, and you can “like” them. BTW, I don’t see any nefarious influences from Amazon on GR in spite of Bezos owning it.
What I read… Some people ask me that, and I’m derelict in listing books I’m reading on Goodreads, for example. Do I just read mysteries, thrillers, and sci-fi? Nope. I even read non-fiction (see the webpage “Steve’s Bookshelf” for a list of books I’ve found notable—there are more non-fiction books than fiction). While I like to read in my genres, I’ll move outside of them for fiction, and read histories, bios, political books, and popular science (as an ex-scientist, I’m over-specialized in one field, and, with emphasis on the “ex,” I need to read popular science tracts just like most people—but I do have a concise definition of “entangled state” if you need one!). I read so much that I can’t keep up with posting it on Goodreads.
99 cent sales. They’re finished for the year, the last one being for The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan, on Smashwords. Did you miss it? You might want to consider my entire catalog as being on sale now. I’m thinking of raising prices for 2017 (there’s this little thing called inflation), so pass the word.
Free PDFs. I guess you can’t give away free stuff anymore–very few takers so far. Check out my list of free PDFs on the “Free Stuff and Contests” webpage. Drop me an email indicating the ones that interest you, and I’ll send you a return email with them as an attachment (prepare your spam filter accordingly). No cost to you, no cost to me. In particular, I’ve added “You Past Will Find You,” a crime novella, to the list, and I’ve revised the writing course a wee bit to reflect my continuing adventures in book publishing.
The Smashwords migration continues. That famous free Amazon Kindle app that allows readers to read ebook mobi-formatted files on almost any device probably doesn’t cut it for readers who have invested in other e-readers (Nooks, Apple products, etc). I realize that. That’s one reason that my ebooks are no longer exclusive on Amazon and I’m adding them one by one to Smashwords, which supports other ebook formats and distributes to B&N and Apple. Another is that exclusive KDP Select (Amazon’s ebook program) never seemed to work for me.
Soldiers of God and Angels Need Not Apply will be coming soon to Smashwords as part of this migration. SoG is already in its second edition; its elevator pitch is “a sci-fi spiritual awakening.” Angels has a new cover that I really like (you can see it on Amazon already), and its elevator pitch might be “sometimes dogs aren’t a man’s best friend”? You can read the full blurbs on my “Books and Short Stories” webpage.
New books for 2017 (or earlier?). What? No new books in 2016? You might have forgotten Rogue Planet; its elevator pitch might be “sometimes ‘noblesse oblige’ is taken literally.” And coming soon: Rembrandt’s Angel and Gaia and the Goliaths—see the blurbs on the Home page. No promise about when they’ll be published, but the manuscripts are done. Getting caught up on my writing is the general theme here. I’m addicted to it!
In libris libertas!
