An author’s point of view on price – he’s got no control

I’ve talked to authors who weren’t even aware that their publisher had even authorized an ebook edition until some time after the fact, so I wouldn’t expect them to know, let alone have a say in, the price of any given edition.

Should factory workers decide the sales price of a new car?

Absent any specific contract clauses granting that authority I’m genuinely puzzled why an author (who is just providing some of the raw material that makes a finished product – the book) would think they should have some say or be consulted as to the selling price of a book.

Since many readers blame authors for the price of the book, the cover, the blurb, the format, the DRM, etc., etc., authors have to say it’s not their fault. They have no control over any of them.

As you’ll recall, last week, we had a column here about hurting the authors because of the Amazon/MacMillan blow up although authors have absolutely no control in this situation or any other with their publishers.

If that attitude persists at places like this where authors such as myself hang out and bludgeon people about the head with facts about publishing, it’s smart for writers everywhere to make it clear what they can and can’t do in the publishing world.

This reader has never blamed authors for the price of books.

I just have difficulty accepting the plaintive whining from some authors that consumers somehow owe anyone that writes a book a living and that by seeking low prices for books readers are somehow destroying the “craft of writing”.

We also see this with the Google Book Settlement. How many authors most people have never heard and are never likely to buy in normal circumstance are claiming that the terms of the settlement are unfair and the equivalent of stealing their livelihood?

It seems there are plenty of publishers and authors blaming readers for having a “Wal-Mart attitude” when they should be grateful to pay full list price for books.

Ultimately this will be decided by the marketplace and I doubt that the outcome is going to please most publishers and authors.

Marilynn—authors have control YET. They can and can’t YET. And they won’t be *able* to unless they take some action and advocate for themselves and for their customers. The only reason I wrote the article I did about the stuff going on at Mobile Read was to hopefully inspire some authors to HELP us! And I have explained this just as often as you have explained the ‘realities’ of publishing; clearly, you are not listening any more than you think we are. If ‘hurting’ them is the only way to get their attention and motive them to do take some action and CHANGE things, then I’m for it.

What most writers want is the POSSIBILITY of making a living at what they love to do. For most of us who aren’t making a living, that’s the carrot that keeps us going when the money is lousy and the business brutal.

Many of the changes happening right now make it a very real possibility that almost none of us will grab that carrot.

Meanwhile, many of my friends who have gotten that carrot are making less and less although they are selling more books, and they are also wondering if it’s worth taking away time from family and life to write books that earn very little.

That’s disheartening for us, and it should be disheartening for readers because many of us will reach a point where there’s no point in spending many, many hours at writing and learning our craft, and our voices will become silent.

I’m at that dark moment of the soul right now, and I honestly don’t know whether it will be worth it to keep fighting the good fight and hoping for the big break.

The contempt of many readers toward writers during all this certainly doesn’t improve my mood or many other writers. Why don’t readers, at the very least, have respect for what we do and understand that we want to be paid for it? Is a kid selling burgers worthy of a paycheck, but someone who creates for a living isn’t?

That mindset isn’t one I understand although I’ve gotten into the minds of sociopaths and other really sick puppies so I could write their viewpoints in fiction.

Anyway, on the subject of the Google settlement. About ten years ago, I read a number of books and articles on the changes coming to publishing and all other forms of information exchange.

One point that really stood out for me is that knowledge and entertainment are one of the greatest sources of power and income, and the ones who control the funnels between the user and that knowledge/entertainment will control everything.

What I’ve watched happen in the last years have proven that one point to be dead on in accuracy.

Behemoths like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple are all fighting for control of that funnel, and the creators and the users of information are being squashed in their struggle.

The Google Book Settlement isn’t just about a few orphaned books. It’s about Google calling dibs on property they have no right to and creating a precedent which will make it easier for them to grab even more as well as keeping other behemoths away from the funnel and its income.

And don’t for a minute believe that Google is in this fight for you. Google is in it for Google, and they don’t give a rat’s butt about the creator or the user. They will find ways to squeeze income out of both until we are squeezed dry.

And, that, my dear Heavy G, will be a very sad day for us all.

Some of us authors did revolt years ago. We became pioneers in epublishing. We were treated like scum by other writers, we couldn’t get reviewed, and the industry treated us like particularly stupid lepers.

But we had a dream. Publishing had been taken over by the conglomerates, and a few corporations controlled the distribution from the publisher to the bookstore. The books coming out were aimed at the largest reading audiences so that many of the books we loved were no longer being published. We thought we could use ebooks as a means to go straight to the reader and give them access to inexpensive stories.

We educated the readers about ebooks, but, instead of shopping at the our publishers, they liked one stop shopping so places like Fictionwise sprang up, and that meant that prices had to rise dramatically because Fictionwise and friends took a large cut.

But we struggled onward, and epublishing began to thrive to such a point that the big publishers took notice. They moved into epublishing, and our loyal readers went back to the brand name authors and publishers. The big publishers flooded our niche markets with backlist, and we drowned in a sea of old titles.

So much for reader loyalty or a desire to change things for them as well as writers.

And what kind of protest should writers have now? An author working with a large publisher has no say in anything. If the author protests and walks away, she will be replaced by someone else. Nothing authors do matters in the grand scheme of conglomerate publishing.

And if the author walks away and goes solo or goes to a small publisher, she will have to endure quarterly royalty checks that won’t buy supper for one at MacDonalds because readers are buying from the conglomerates, not the small publishers.

And doing this won’t change a damn thing.

So much for writers creating changes in publishing.

Ficbot, I meant to tell you about my attempts at getting your message out to publishers.

I read many publishing blogs and newsletters, and when I can, I comment from the other side of the issue. Recently, at several blogs, I have mentioned the issues you all have talked about, and the frustration you feel that they aren’t paying attention to the readers’ needs.

I never had the first comment from anyone in the business. Not the first comment. Everybody continues to chat with each other, but I’m invisible.

As I’ve learned over the years, the truth about NY publishing is that it is an incestuous little community where they only talk to each other. The only authors they pay attention to either belong to the same clubs, etc., or they have gained notice by being bestsellers.

I’m sure that they glance at my name, don’t recognize me, then ignore what I say.

So much for changing things.

Marilynn, I appreciate your efforts. I think that’s the first time I have heard you say something like this. I really think both of us need to keep at it because eventually, enough people will be saying the same thing that people have to listen.

As to your wish that writers will be able to make “a living” on writing alone, I think that unfortunately it will remain just that, a wish. There are some endeavours where it is just not feasible for it to be a ‘living’ just on that one thing, unfortunately. My cousin the rock musician supplements his gigs and album-making with teaching work and private lessons. My dad the published non-fiction author only got his book out in the first place due to his marketing-based day job in the field he wrote about, and he makes more money off speaking engagements. I know tons of people—in all sorts of creative fields—who didn’t quit the day job because one just can’t support oneself on writing (or music, or stained glass window making, or jewelry making etc.) alone. A writer who wants to ‘just’ write and resents being expected to log hours marketing or teaching or doing commercial work is imho deciding that it will be a hobby and not a career. EVERY career has drudge work. EVERY career has people with families who must balance time spent with them versus time spent on their job and work. If writers want their work to be taken seriously as a CAREER PATH then they need to understand this and stop complaining about being expected to do more than just pen words. Is this fair? Maybe not. But it also isn’t fair that daycare workers make minimum wage and subway ticket collectors make union salaries (at least where I live!) That’s LIFE. Do authors deserve that if I want to own their book, I buy it rather than stealing it from the darknet? YES. Emphatically yes. But does this entitle them to a comfortable middle-class living? No.

And fwiw I speak as someone who used to be a freelance writer myself. And you know what? I didn’t like the ‘other’ stuff. And I couldn’t hack it. And I was poor So I got a dayjob doing something else, moved the writing back to just a hobby, and am much happier. Not everyone can do it for a ‘job’ and support themselves.

I just have difficulty accepting the plaintive whining from some authors that consumers somehow owe anyone that writes a book a living…

It’s funny, but every time I hear this comment, it’s coming from readers. I have yet to see a writer’s words to the effect that “You readers owe me a living.” Authors want compensation for their labor, no question. But the only people to whom authors have a reason to demand a living is the big publishers who promise them exactly that… not the readers. And if they’re not “making a living,” it’s the publishers’ fault… not the readers’.

Not everyone can do it for a ‘job’ and support themselves.

That, of course, is at the heart of the issue, isn’t it? And not just for non-Big-Pub writers like myself… but for so-called “established” authors who are discovering that the publishing world is changing, and that they will have to change with it.

With the sea-change going on in publishing, a lot of people are going to have to face major changes to their businesses and their lives. Some of us have to accept that we will never play at the high-stakes table that used to be played by big publishers… that game is drawing to a close. However, other tables are opening, and some will have significant opportunities for growth and profit… some will simply provide extra income… and some will only be good for the experience, which will be useful to us at some point in our futures.

Stackpole’s lack of control may be true today… but in the future, he will have much more control, because today there are tools that allow him to do more of the work himself. That’s a bargaining chip in any author’s favor, and will provide him more power and control in future negotiations with any partner… or allow him to strike out on his own, and have total control.

This applies to any author, regardless of renown or success level. The future may be cloudy for the Big Pubs in their ivory towers, but at the ground level where most authors labor, it’s getting brighter every day.

A profession that only a few can make a living becomes a hobby for the rich and retired, and everyone is poorer for it.

People talk about the future of publishing, but they only mention the publisher. Right now, it’s the writers who are in deep trouble. We are in a profession where our product, our talent, and craft are scorned by publisher and reader alike. (Piracy, anyone?)

The publisher has the same market forces on itself as the maker of manufactured goods, and it can’t go to China or some Third World country to use cheap labor so it makes its profits by treating its writers like they are from a Third World country.

Writers are reacting to this by burning out, quitting, or destroying themselves.

The whole situation breaks my heart.

Piracy is over-rated as a problem. Every industry has it to some degree, right down to the guy at the corner store who factors into his budget a percentage of losses for teenagers stealing candy bars. I don’t think publishing has any right to complain about ‘piracy’ as long as they use artificial restrictions like geo-blocking to prevent legitimate, paying customers who *want* to buy from doing so. If you look at other industries who deal with theft, the focus is on ‘loss prevention’ not ‘sales prevention.’ It should be that way with books too.

Marilynn, I hear what you’re saying. I really, really do. I have worked in the field myself and I know how it is. But I also know a TON of people who can’t make a living just by doing what they love. Writers are not the special flower in that regard. There are a lot of things people enjoy and find meaning in, yet still they have a day job which pays the bills. That’s life. I just wish some writers would realize that for many people, life is all about compromises sometimes and simply get ON with it. Write if you want to. Have a nice sideline and see where it goes—no book on writing I have ever seen advocates quitting the day job unless you know the sideline is viable. If you want to treat it like a business, treat it like a *business* and really work it that way. Otherwise, do what artists of any stripe do and create, enjoy it, and make what you make from it. Much as I love books and reading, I really don’t see how authors are any more worthy of special protection or sympathy or exemptions from the way of the world than any other type of artist. And I really don’t think the options are ‘be a best-selling author with a comfortable middle class income’ or ‘be discouraged and never write again.’ There is a lot of middle ground in there.

Like Steve, I’ve never heard an author say he/she deserves a living. What I have heard authors say is that they work hard and IF they deliver valuable ‘product,’ (product readers value) they, like anyone else delivering valuable product should be compensated. We recognize that our business is a lot like the music business in that a small percentage of our ‘stars’ generate most of the compensation and do our best to hone our craft so we can join that group of stars. We recognize, too, that (as with the music business), there are jobs that pay something but not enough to support a good living and other jobs that pay almost nothing but the experience (and that sometimes we’ll go to dozens of auditions and never get a gig at all even though we believe we’re more talented than those who do get hired. For the most part, authors (and publishers) simply say, if you don’t like what we write/publish, more power to you. If you do, we expect someone to buy it so you can read it. And we publishers say, we’ll share what we make with our authors.

Saying piracy is like shoplifting is true in some senses but I’m not sure it’s the end of the story. Shopkeepers post mirrors, call police, stop kids with backpacks and generally do everything they can to limit shoplifting exactly because they will go bankrupt if they don’t. Shoplifting is a managed problem. I don’t see piracy being managed to the same extent. If I’m a shopkeeper and catch someone shoplifting, I’ll call the police and they come. If I’m a publisher and catch someone pirating, tell me what police force to call because if you can find someone who’ll come and do something about it, you’re way ahead of me.

Rob Preece
Publisher

Rob, join AuthorsAgainstE-BookTheft@yahoogroups.com . It’s primarily a group of authors, but we’ve been educating each other on the various means to fight pirates.

We have takedown notice forms and procedures for specific sites as well as the various national, international, and professional associations where you can report pirates so we can send the big guns after these people.

Ficbot, I’m sure you’ve heard of a death by a thousand cuts. One cut might not hurt you beyond the pain, two might not be too bad, but at a certain point the blood loss kills you.

That’s what ebook theft has become for the industry.

The authors’ group I mentioned above and several others are collecting anecdotal evidence of how ebook theft is hurting authors, and some of the stories are seriously scary.

One well-known midlist author’s ebook sales all but disappeared after her books appeared at all the pirate sites, and her new book’s ebook version had a huge drop in sales while her paper sales rose dramatically. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of her books were downloaded illegally.

Even someone who isn’t paranoid has to give that information some serious thought.

But, we’re not talking piracy here.

I want to thank you for your career advice, but I’m afraid you the one who doesn’t get it. I’m not talking about people just entering the field, I’m talking successful midlist writers who have been able to support themselves.

For those who don’t know, a midlist writer is a writer with a solid, successful career in publishing, usually with the majors, but the author isn’t a “name.” Most midlist authors are genre writers–sf, fantasy, romance, mystery, etc.

Let me give you an idea of the life of a midlist author. I’ll talk romance since that’s the field I’m most familiar with.

A midlist author should write two or more novels a year. Three or more is better. That’s what the publishers want to keep momentum in the career.

Even a fast writer will have to work eight hour days for five to seven days a week to maintain this publishing schedule.

At the same time, the publisher expects the author to maintain and update a website frequently, post a blog a number of times a week, maintain their Facebook and other social networking sites, and Twitter.

Almost all the promotion is done by the author with the author’s own money, and the author must attend various reader and author conventions, also paid for by the author.

In most cases, the author must search the web on her own for pirated books and handle the takedown notices as well as informing her publisher.

As a self-employed person, the author has all the usual expenses — office, equipment, health insurance, etc., as well as website fees. No one the author works with expects to be paid when the author is, they expect to be paid after the work is done.

The author is only paid at certain times of the year, and it’s impossible to tell how much or how little she will see with each check.

Money like advances are promised but, sometimes, the author might not see that money for several years. Money is withheld for years because of the possibility of book returns, and in many cases, the author has to demand the money to see a penny.

In the last few years, many midlist authors have sold many more copies of their novels than before, but the publishers’ recent changes in terms means the author is now seeing much less.

They have a more than full-time job which requires very special skills, and they are struggling to break even. That’s what’s wrong with being an author these days.

Marilynn, I honestly think that just as scary for these mid-list authors should be the legitimate, paying customers they are scaring off by geo-blocking the books and hampering them via DRM. I honestly don’t get you. First, you say you are talking about ‘indie’ authors like you who don’t do those things, but then you post about mid-list authors from major publishing houses…

Look, all most of us want to do is just buy the books and read them. It’s really not that hard. Or, it shouldn’t be.