This last year has been, in many ways, a watershed year for publishing as both the failing economy and the drastic changes in distribution have stressed the major publishers' bottom line and the way they have always done business.
However, probably the most important news has been the war for control over content, for without content, none of the other news matters. Here are some of the things that have happened this year.
Amazon's attempt at a closed Kindle system failed, and they are opening up the Kindle to other sources of ebooks in both format and distribution sites.
Other ebook readers and distributors have fought back against Amazon's dominance of the market.
Amazon's Kindle's text-to-speech feature raised an uproar because Amazon was grabbing a right they hadn't contracted for, and they were forced to drop TTS.
Amazon has controlled ebook prices by imposing the $9.99 price point on most ebooks, and other distributors are following along. They also started a price war on paper bestsellers.
Google attempted to control content by trying to make all books, no matter what the copyright status, available for free on the web. Publishers and authors have fought them back on this issue.
Google declared "dibs" on books out of copyright and orphaned copyright books, but publishers, other distributors, and author organizations have screamed foul and are fighting it.
Many of the epublishers who have been around for years are being acquired by other epublishers. The latest acquisition is Hard Shell Word Factory by Mundania.
A number of the large conglomerate publishers, including Simon & Schuster, are making drastic reductions in ebook royalty rates.
Random House is again saying that old publishing contracts signed before ebooks existed give them ebook rights to books by authors such as William Styron. They have fought this battle once before and capitulated when they sued Rosetta Books for copyright infringement.
Many of these events and issues will be still in contention in the next few years so we're in for some interesting times.
Showing posts with label publishing business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishing business. Show all posts
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Links of Interest
PUBLISHING NEWS: Amazon has announced it will reprint books that deserve a second chance. First up is a self-published novel by a teenager.
http://email.publishersweekly.com/cgi-bin2/DM/y/jBF7P0EkOKm0OYZ0Dxnv0EZ&rid=
CRAFT: Writing the scene so it does more than one thing.
http://www.genreality.net/scene-x2
CRAFT: Writing the Bad Girl Heroine.
http://www.genreality.net/bad-girl-heroines
CRAFT: How to write a great first draft.
http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-write-great-first-draft.html
BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING: How Bookscan numbers can make or break your career.
http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2009/05/14/author-alert-what-you-don’t-know-about-bookscan-can-hurt-you/
PUBLISHING NEWS: For the first time, print-on-demand and short run published books were printed than traditional big runs. POD has recently doubled the number of books published while traditional runs dropped by over three percent.
http://in.sys-con.com/node/969162
MARKETS: Jessica Faust of Bookends defines women’s fiction.
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/05/womens-fiction.html
MARKETS: Agent Kristin Nelson is in NY talking to fiction editors, and she’s asking them what they are buying. First up, St. Martin’s.
http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2009/05/submit-now-or-later.html
http://email.publishersweekly.com/cgi-bin2/DM/y/jBF7P0EkOKm0OYZ0Dxnv0EZ&rid=
CRAFT: Writing the scene so it does more than one thing.
http://www.genreality.net/scene-x2
CRAFT: Writing the Bad Girl Heroine.
http://www.genreality.net/bad-girl-heroines
CRAFT: How to write a great first draft.
http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-write-great-first-draft.html
BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING: How Bookscan numbers can make or break your career.
http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2009/05/14/author-alert-what-you-don’t-know-about-bookscan-can-hurt-you/
PUBLISHING NEWS: For the first time, print-on-demand and short run published books were printed than traditional big runs. POD has recently doubled the number of books published while traditional runs dropped by over three percent.
http://in.sys-con.com/node/969162
MARKETS: Jessica Faust of Bookends defines women’s fiction.
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/05/womens-fiction.html
MARKETS: Agent Kristin Nelson is in NY talking to fiction editors, and she’s asking them what they are buying. First up, St. Martin’s.
http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2009/05/submit-now-or-later.html
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Death of Copyright
In my recent blog “A Reader’s Guide to Copyright,” one commenter suggested that we should get rid of copyright completely. This comment started my writer “what if” train of thought so here are my thoughts on what would happen if copyright were abolished.
PUBLISHING
When copyright is abolished, publishers will use even stricter security measures to protect their ebooks, but the books are soon available for free, courtesy of hackers. Paper books are scanned and put online as fast as they come out. With almost no profit, publishers go out of business.
Unable to earn a living, professional writers stop writing.
There is now no hope of another book by Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Stephanie Meyer, or J.K. Rowling.
Amateurs fill in some of the gap for new material, but they have little incentive to improve their craft, and most fiction is so horrible that readers long for the days of mediocre fan fiction.
Some new writers put famous authors’ names on their works to encourage reading.
People with maturity problems or a political, religious, or social agenda change others’ works so that the books available online often no longer resemble the original work. Scientific and historical works are particularly hard hit as are the works of popular genre writers.
Serious readers will be forced to find paper versions of these books. Unfortunately, in the first years of no copyright and an abundance of good electronic readers, many readers scanned then destroyed their paper books, many public libraries have closed, and paperback books have disintegrated with age.
Some lovers of good books will offer clean, correct copies of various classics at their sites, but most popular fiction will no longer be true to its original content.
Text books will no longer be published so school systems and teachers will have to cobble together information on their own.
MUSIC
The only way singers and musicians can make money is live performances. Song writers can’t make money unless they perform their own songs quite well. Most are unable to make a living because the “name” performers grab their best songs so they stop writing.
TV
The moment a TV show is seen, it is in public domain, and the characters and series are up for grabs to anyone who wants to make their own version. Series like CSI disappear in favor of reality shows and one-shot dramas. Cheap production is absolutely necessary since the production companies can’t make money by syndicating reruns so profit is only made on the first run of the show.
MOVIES
Since a movie will go into the public domain the moment it is released in any digital format, new movies are only available in theaters. Theaters have strict policies to prevent movies from being taped from the audience. Even with precautions, movies end up in public domain too often to warrant vast sums spent on productions.
Big budget movies and multimillion-dollar movie stars disappear in favor of small intimate films with low budgets.
LIVE THEATER
Broadway and live theater are the least hurt by the loss of copyright although rival versions of the same play in the same town is a constant hazard. Over the years, though, the vitality of live theater is lost because no new plays have been written in years, and everything is a remake.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
New professionally-written computer software, with the exception of software hard-wired into specific computers and digital equipment, will all but disappear. Some computer communities will fill some of the gap, but even their software is plagued by viruses. No companies now write or upgrade virus detection software because their work becomes pubic domain the instant they offer it.
OVERVIEW
The loss of copyright would cost millions of jobs and billions of dollars, just in the US, but more importantly, it would hamper creative expression, innovation, scholarship, and the pleasure of those who enjoy a good book. That makes the “what if?” of the loss of copyright a horror story.
PUBLISHING
When copyright is abolished, publishers will use even stricter security measures to protect their ebooks, but the books are soon available for free, courtesy of hackers. Paper books are scanned and put online as fast as they come out. With almost no profit, publishers go out of business.
Unable to earn a living, professional writers stop writing.
There is now no hope of another book by Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Stephanie Meyer, or J.K. Rowling.
Amateurs fill in some of the gap for new material, but they have little incentive to improve their craft, and most fiction is so horrible that readers long for the days of mediocre fan fiction.
Some new writers put famous authors’ names on their works to encourage reading.
People with maturity problems or a political, religious, or social agenda change others’ works so that the books available online often no longer resemble the original work. Scientific and historical works are particularly hard hit as are the works of popular genre writers.
Serious readers will be forced to find paper versions of these books. Unfortunately, in the first years of no copyright and an abundance of good electronic readers, many readers scanned then destroyed their paper books, many public libraries have closed, and paperback books have disintegrated with age.
Some lovers of good books will offer clean, correct copies of various classics at their sites, but most popular fiction will no longer be true to its original content.
Text books will no longer be published so school systems and teachers will have to cobble together information on their own.
MUSIC
The only way singers and musicians can make money is live performances. Song writers can’t make money unless they perform their own songs quite well. Most are unable to make a living because the “name” performers grab their best songs so they stop writing.
TV
The moment a TV show is seen, it is in public domain, and the characters and series are up for grabs to anyone who wants to make their own version. Series like CSI disappear in favor of reality shows and one-shot dramas. Cheap production is absolutely necessary since the production companies can’t make money by syndicating reruns so profit is only made on the first run of the show.
MOVIES
Since a movie will go into the public domain the moment it is released in any digital format, new movies are only available in theaters. Theaters have strict policies to prevent movies from being taped from the audience. Even with precautions, movies end up in public domain too often to warrant vast sums spent on productions.
Big budget movies and multimillion-dollar movie stars disappear in favor of small intimate films with low budgets.
LIVE THEATER
Broadway and live theater are the least hurt by the loss of copyright although rival versions of the same play in the same town is a constant hazard. Over the years, though, the vitality of live theater is lost because no new plays have been written in years, and everything is a remake.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE
New professionally-written computer software, with the exception of software hard-wired into specific computers and digital equipment, will all but disappear. Some computer communities will fill some of the gap, but even their software is plagued by viruses. No companies now write or upgrade virus detection software because their work becomes pubic domain the instant they offer it.
OVERVIEW
The loss of copyright would cost millions of jobs and billions of dollars, just in the US, but more importantly, it would hamper creative expression, innovation, scholarship, and the pleasure of those who enjoy a good book. That makes the “what if?” of the loss of copyright a horror story.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Part Two
Continuing my overview of what has happened in recent months.
ONLINE MARKETS
Amazon remains the Godzilla of online book sales in both new and used books while Barnes & Noble online, etc., eat the crumbs.
Amazon gives readers an incredible selection of books not found in brick and mortar stores so they are the place to go for serious readers. A month's entire line of books by most publishers is available at Amazon, and their search functions as well as their Listmania and "if you like this book, you'll like that book" features, and reader blogs help readers find books and authors they won't find elsewhere.
Used book sites like Alibris are a major force in book buying as readers search for bargains, and Amazon displays the used book right beside the new book in their search results.
PRINT ON DEMAND BOOKS
Most major publishers do large print runs of their titles and store the books to sell through bookstores, etc.
A large print run requires a large expense up front in the printing followed by the cost of storing and moving inventory. For massmarket (standard-sized paperbacks), books not sold at the bookstore have their cover ripped off and returned while the book itself goes into the landfill. The publisher pays for the shipping in both directions.
Obviously, this is a serious waste of money and resources, but the bookstores and publishers seem addicted to this model.
In recent years, print on demand books (POD) are becoming an important part of the paper book process.
POD books are printed, one at a time, to order and shipped to the store or the buyer. Large publishers use POD for backlist, and small publishers and individuals who can't afford large print runs also use it.
Recently, a major publisher used POD to catch up on unexpectedly high demand of a nonfiction title.
Most of the major book distributors have their own POD company as does Amazon.
~*~
Tomorrow, I'll continue my overview by discussing ebooks and used books.
ONLINE MARKETS
Amazon remains the Godzilla of online book sales in both new and used books while Barnes & Noble online, etc., eat the crumbs.
Amazon gives readers an incredible selection of books not found in brick and mortar stores so they are the place to go for serious readers. A month's entire line of books by most publishers is available at Amazon, and their search functions as well as their Listmania and "if you like this book, you'll like that book" features, and reader blogs help readers find books and authors they won't find elsewhere.
Used book sites like Alibris are a major force in book buying as readers search for bargains, and Amazon displays the used book right beside the new book in their search results.
PRINT ON DEMAND BOOKS
Most major publishers do large print runs of their titles and store the books to sell through bookstores, etc.
A large print run requires a large expense up front in the printing followed by the cost of storing and moving inventory. For massmarket (standard-sized paperbacks), books not sold at the bookstore have their cover ripped off and returned while the book itself goes into the landfill. The publisher pays for the shipping in both directions.
Obviously, this is a serious waste of money and resources, but the bookstores and publishers seem addicted to this model.
In recent years, print on demand books (POD) are becoming an important part of the paper book process.
POD books are printed, one at a time, to order and shipped to the store or the buyer. Large publishers use POD for backlist, and small publishers and individuals who can't afford large print runs also use it.
Recently, a major publisher used POD to catch up on unexpectedly high demand of a nonfiction title.
Most of the major book distributors have their own POD company as does Amazon.
~*~
Tomorrow, I'll continue my overview by discussing ebooks and used books.
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