Item: Some stats from the “Author Earnings Report.”  I’m quoting these secondhand from Poynter’s Newsletter because they’re interesting.  The AER considers 7000 top selling digital titles (pseudonym for ebook, methinks) on Amazon’s bestseller lists.  As of 8/5/2014, the infamous Big Five captures only 16% of the ebook market while indie authors capture 31%–I guess the remaining 53% goes to small imprints not owned by the Big Five conglomerates.  Moreover, indie authors take home 40% of the Kindle store’s royalties.  It’s estimated that ebook sales will surpass pbook (hardbound, trade paperback, etc) sales in 2017 if present trends continue.  In my R&R casual reading binge just completed, I read five ebooks for the price of one Big Five ebook, and every one of them was a fun, relaxing, and entertaining read.  I read mostly ebooks now, except for reviewing, and refuse to pay the Big Five’s exorbitant prices for new ebooks or pbooks.  If you’re looking for new and interesting authors, your best bet is indie or books from small imprints.

Item: Other curiosities from the AER.  DRM seems to harm ebook sales at any price point.  Assuming that’s true, I wish someone would end my confusion.  If I release an ebook via Amazon or Smashwords, does it have DRM?  I hope not.  My most recent ebook, Aristocrats and Assassins, is listed as having simultaneous device usage and lending enabled.  I think I understand the latter, but does that and the former automatically preclude DRM?  I’m one who says I really don’t care if you trade my ebooks around or obtain illegal copies.  That’s on your conscience.  If you do it, I hope you enjoy the book and tell your friends and relatives about it.  I’ll chalk it up to PR and marketing in that case.

Another curiosity: self-pubbers (indies) are dominating in the sci-fi/fantasy, mystery/thriller, and romance genres but are taking significant market share in all genres.  This is a different metric than measuring the popularity of a genre—I think romance wins hands down there, but you won’t find me writing romance or erotica anytime soon.  I write sci-fi, mystery, and thriller novels—love, lust, and the ways of the flesh might be plot elements (usually nothing more that PG-13 if you’re a worried parent) because most of my characters are human, but these aren’t a primary focus.  Caveat emptor, if that’s what you’re looking for.

Item: Amazon v. Hachette.  We finally have Amazon’s version: they’re looking out for readers by trying to keep ebook prices low.  Before you Amazon-haters start to snicker, look at Big Five ebook prices, often only a dollar or two less than the corresponding pbook.  The Big Five have a lot of infrastructure and bureaucracy, so they short writers on their royalties and take the big slice of the royalty pie in order to pay for their bloating.  Their pricing also means you’re paying dearly and helping them.  I can produce my ebooks without a lot of infrastructure and bureaucracy, so I can pass my savings on to the reader.  All my ebooks are less than $9 and the majority are less than $5.  Fact: You can read many more ebooks if you go with indie authors or small imprints.

On a related note, the rumor that Amazon is out to buy Big Five publisher Simon and Shuster doesn’t seem to be true, as far as I can ascertain.  I was wondering how they’d reconcile that purchase with their own imprint.  I was also thinking that I couldn’t swallow the argument that they’re looking for a way into traditional bookstores.  All non-digital print and the bookstores that archive and sell it are going to have increasingly tough times.  Amazon mightn’t be the asteroid that kills these dinosaurs, but Amazon + ebooks might be.  Time will tell, but it would be risky for Amazon to stick its toes in those piranha-filled muddy waters.

Item: B&N + Google = BarNoogle?  I’m not very excited about the announcement that Google is teaming up with Barnes & Noble in order to do battle with Amazon.  B&N is breathing its last, and Google has become bloated and over-extended and yet they just keep adding on more and more stuff.  Google gets away with it in the U.S., but Europe has their number.  I often wonder what the excitement was with Snowden’s NSA revelations when both FaceBook and Google are watching our every move online (that’s the only explanation I have for popup ads appearing right after I’ve queried some website about products)–talk about privacy violations!  (That’s only one Googly thing Europe is going after.)  At least the government was doing it under the pretext of counterterrorism–Google and others just do it out of greed.

But maybe it will do Amazon some good to have a wee bit of competition in the sense that they will offer an even better service for readers and writers in order to fend off these little mutts nipping at their heels.  Works for me.  I’d still suggest to BarNoogle that they quickly come out with a real inexpensive lending program before Netflix starts lending ebooks.  Interesting times…..

Item: Speak to me.  Don’t be shy.  I love readers’ feedback.  You don’t have to write a review of one of my ebooks to open the communications door.  Comment on a blog post.  You’ll see a plethora of different views in some of the comments.  Please be advised that these are the views of the people who comment, not necessarily mine—but you’ve probably already figured that out.  As long as you don’t use R- or X-rated language, I’ll allow your comment.  Or, just send an email via my contact page.  I love feedback and reading your ideas and opinions.  I can even tell you how to drink Irish whiskey the correct way, but don’t ask me for my recipe for bouillabaisse—I don’t have one!  Whatever form your comment takes, I’ll respect your privacy.  I don’t maintain email lists and I won’t broadcast your email across the internet either (an email is required for commenting to a blog post to show you’re a human being, but that doesn’t appear with your comment).

If you do want to read one of my ebooks for free, you can: just indicate the ebook title in your email, and I’ll send you the freebie in exchange for an honest review.  I might even add one of my anthologies, depending on my generosity that day and your interests.  While I might do a promotion once and awhile (a temporarily lowered price), I’ve stopped giving ebooks away.  If you hate the idea of paying for the ebook, check out lending via Amazon’s Prime or Unlimited or Smashwords’ nexus with Scribd.  Otherwise, just steal the ebook somehow—a Chinese bootleg copy maybe?—and live with the guilt.  And, if you like it, don’t tell me—just buy another one…legitimately.

Item: Pending.  As I said in my intro to the series of “classic” posts on writing, I took some time off from writing novels and reviewing books to have some R&R of casual reading.  I run these reading marathons from time to time; they clear my head and allow me to appreciate all the wonderful books people are generating these days, especially authors new to me (I see those as a reviewer too).  But, just in case you’re wondering, I’ll soon be releasing Muddlin’ Through, a thriller featuring a female ex-USN Master-at-Arms who’s framed, and The Collector, the next Chen and Castilblanco tale (excerpt in Aristocrats and Assassins).  Donna Carrick, of Carrick Publishing, kindly invited me to contribute a Chen and Castilblanco short story to a new anthology she’s whipping into shape.  I’ll provide more details on that later.  (You can find other short stories about this detective duo in Pop Two Antacids and Have Some Java.)  Finally, maybe for early 2015 and not 2014, I’m working on a new stand-alone sci-fi novel titled More Than Human.  Look for these in coming months.

In libris libertas…             

This entry was posted on Friday, August 8th, 2014 at 4:00 am and is filed under News and Notices from the Writing Trenches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.