The Bitter End

This probably won't be my last BLOG posting, but unless something changes, I'll no longer write fiction or non-fiction. I'd like to believe that the loss isn't only mine, but readers of of all types also. You see, I'm experiencing life at its finest. I don't mean fame, fortune, wild parties, good friends, or traveling to exotic places. I mean the raw, reality of life where circumstances, greed, the devaluation of human life, and callousness have created the perfect storm and an irony that is quintessential.

What is this guy talking about you're probably asking yourself. He's not making any sense. Let me share a little, my friends, and maybe you'll grasp how I can equate pain and suffering to life at its finest.

If you're able to read this then you've experienced suffering, and often sufferance leads to good things. There is some truth in the saying that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. The trick is to suffer without dying from it. If you're able to read this then somewhere along the way someone taught you how to read. They patiently took you through the confusing and frustrating process of first identifying little marks and shapes as letters. For most of us, this happened at a very young age and our recall of what it was like is probably lost. Our immature minds couldn't grasp suffering yet. Then they taught us how those letters spelled words, and words used correctly made sentences. For some it was easier, for others not, but at least you can read this. Few of us remember the feelings of frustration we felt learning to read so let's skip forward. If you're reading this, you have a computer and an Internet connection. How were you able to accomplish that? You suffered and didn't die. Maybe you went to college and then got a job, maybe you skipped college and went straight into the workforce. Either way you suffered. You suffered through all the bullshit that comes with being a student and/or an employee. You suffered when you found out you paid too much for the first car that you bought on your own and the payments killed you. You suffered through relationships, dumping or getting dumped. Maybe you got married, even the best marriages have moments of trial and tribulation, you suffered but you didn't die. And through all of that suffering, hopefully you learned and came through it wiser. You suffer, and suffer, and suffer, and if you're lucky it doesn't kill you or ruin your self-esteem, happiness, or quality of life.

Life has conspired to put me through more suffering, and I should be used to it by now. Based on past experiences and that age old wisdom, I'm going to be better off for it, right; life at its finest.

I had a high paying career until at the age of 41, I became permanently 100% disabled; more suffering. I spent two years waking up every morning wondering, "Now what? What do I do with the rest of my day?" I can't go hiking, I can't volunteer, (most volunteer jobs require that you can physically do things or at the very least you can be counted on to show up when expected), I can't do much of anything. After two years, I remembered that I'd always wanted to write a novel. Hey, something I can do. It doesn't require much physical exertion and I can do it on my schedule. I can take advantage of those few short hours a day when I can sit at a keyboard and type, and if I'm in too much pain, I can stop. I can work at my schedule and I'm not causing anyone else a problem. Well what do you know, I'm not half bad at this writing thing. I still need a lot of help with editing 'cause my gramer ain't so great', but my ideas and stories are good, and my overall ability to weave a plot and build characters isn't so bad. So what if it takes me a long time to finish a novel. At least I've found something I can do that I love. What's the catch? Just because I write a novel, doesn't mean anyone would want to buy it and read it. But you know what, I won't even get a chance to find out. My disability insurer thinks that if I can do that, then surely I must be employable and they don't need to pay my monthly benefits anymore, or at least that's what they're implying. So, if I continue to write and try to publish, I'll end up homeless waiting for those 'guaranteed' royalty checks to come rolling in. I'll just push my shopping cart, with all my clothes in it, around for a while longer and maybe I'll hit the big time.

If I attempt to become a successful writer during those moments when I physically can, I'll lose my income. Note the word attempt. There are no guarantees in publishing, and I'll 'attempt' my way into a homeless shelter. So, for now I'll have to give up writing. Why write if you can't show it to anyone. Am I suffering? You bet. Will I come out at the other end better for it? I'm supposed to. Life at it's finest.

The Future of Publishing (part 2)

What happened to the traditional business model of the recording industry?

With the introduction of CD’s, digital distribution of music came to the forefront and shoved the analog vinyl album and cassette tape aside. At about the same time as the CD format rose in popularity, the use of personal computers in the home rose in popularity. For the first time in the history, the consumer could cheaply make exact duplicates of the music they loved, and loved to share, without any loss of fidelity. The countdown to dramatic upheavals in the recording business began at that time, but few could see what was coming and the traditional business model remained static.

Peer-to-peer file sharing was the next straw. Vast networks such as Napster ushered in a frightening new model the record labels never anticipated. Copied music became freely available to anyone with a personal computer. No one—not the record label nor the artist—profited from the millions of consumers who wanted the latest CD or hit song. With a few clicks of their mouse, the music of their choice downloaded to their PC, and if they wanted to play it on another device such as the stereo in their car, they burned a CD.

Seeing the loss of profits, the record labels and artists quickly stepped in and the courts began to try to enforce the copyright laws that protected intellectual property. These laws never took into account technology that didn’t exist or that was foreseeable. Battles raged over piracy and fair use of copyrighted material. Several rounds ensued where quick minds created new ways to get around these laws, and allow the practice of freely sharing copyrighted material among anyone with a PC. CD sales dropped with the advent of these technologies resulting in the loss of billions of dollars to the record industry and artists. File sharing still exists today and has affected more industries than just the recording industry; software piracy has also resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in revenue. While the United States and European companies have taken steps to outlaw these practices, piracy in the majority of the rest of the world remains strong.

The next straw was the MP3 player. No longer did the consumer require a CD player on their PC, in their homes, or in their cars. The MP3 player allowed the user to not only pick and choose exactly what music they wanted to listen too, it also untethered them from the physical constraints of the CD player. The consumer could take their favorite music with them and listen to it wherever they were. The recording industry staunchly tried to maintain their traditional business model, but eventually had to change and adapt to the new technology and attitudes.

Services like iTunes were born and the traditional model of the recording industry changed forever. They no longer had as much of a reason to exist. Over the span of a few years, their hold on maintaining that brick wall between artist and consumer crumbled. Additionally, their importance in the process involved in being the conduit between artist and consumer also slipped.

Powerful, inexpensive software turned individuals into producers, able to mix, edit, and lay down tracks negating the need of the expensive equipment and producers required to create a finished song or album.

The need to stock, maintain, and distribute CD’s to retailers also took a hit. A single digital master could now be stored on a computer and infinite amounts of copies are easily created with a few mouse clicks.

Now, with the MP3 player being the popular choice of a new generation and savvy older generations, the brick and mortar retailer had competition. Virtual Internet stores are now the major distributors and retailers.

The artists saw their opportunity. Why beg and grovel for a record label to sign you, give up huge percentages of the profits, and have a contractual noose? They can develop their own finished product and deal directly with the online retailers. That left marketing as the only value-added service a record label could offer.

This last aspect is the only thing holding the traditional model together, but that is also changing. Marketing usually requires money, even now in the Internet age, but less expensive alternatives are already available. Pay for clicks advertising is one of them and more are bound to emerge.

Today’s musician can maintain a web site for their fan base, produce their own music, deal directly with the online retailers or even better, directly to the consumer—reaping 100% of the profits—and market their work.

The only thing of value today’s record labels can offer is marketing capital and knowledge. They still have a stranglehold on the songs DJ’s play on the air, and they have the money to throw at massive marketing campaigns.

As time goes by, more and more private promoters with capital will enter the arena and fund a musicians marketing campaign, or successful artists will have the means to do it themselves. Companies are already forming to help the musicians promote themselves. Those companies have all of the same contacts and avenues as the record label at a fraction of the cost. Additionally, Internet radio is maturing, and with their MP3 players plugged into their ears, far less people are turning on their radio and listening to only what the neutered DJ plays.

Soon, what purpose will a major record label serve?

Next installment:

What is happening in the Publishing Industry that Mirrors the Recording Industry?

 

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The Future of Publishing (part 1)

Is the future of traditional publishing changing?

It’s 2008, and as a new author with an existing contract to have my first published novel, Three of a Kind, I entered the back end portion of being an author in today’s market. Presented with the arduous chore of self-promotion, I began to build a marketing plan, examined what is involved in distribution, and came to a shocking discovery; the future of the traditional publishing model was about to enter a fundamental change.

Anyone involved in publishing or writing probably knows that in the last decade, at the very least, the industry has changed, as all things do. Publishing houses have grown lean and mean, more books than ever are being published, more people than ever are writing books, and it has become more difficult for the aspiring writer to get published and make any significant money doing so. Technology such as word processing software, personal computers, advances in printing, etc. drove much of that change. These technological advances opened the floodgates for people to take a plunge into writing, no longer afraid of a typewriter, whiteout, and poor spelling. More printed books meant more competition, a greater chance of failure, and a tightening on the drawstrings of a publisher’s budget. Gone are the days of huge advances and a small pool of author’s for consumers and publishers to draw from. The mega-publisher is next to impossible to access without an agent, and a good agent is next to impossible to attract since they receive hundreds of new manuscripts weekly. I recently read an interview with a well-known, respected author, with over fifty novels to his credit state that were he starting out today, he doubts an agent or publisher would even notice him. These changes have led to the proliferation of boutique publishers and self-publishing. The status quo however, remains stable and despite all these changes, the traditional model of publishing has remained intact. With the rare exception, if you want to get rich and famous off your writing, you need the representation of the mega-publisher.

That is all about to change, and in fact has already begun. As you will see, in the near future, that traditional model is going to turn upside down and inside out. A struggle is emerging that is going to give the individual author more power than ever before, although I must point out, talent is still required.

The drastic changes in the music industry provide an excellent template to chart the future of traditional publishing. Without a doubt, I’m not the first one to notice the similarities between the recording and publishing industries. Search the Internet and others are talking about this paradigm shift. There are as many opinions as there are posts about the future of publishing, some well thought out and some not. One thing they all agree on is that the traditional model is changing, and changing fast.

Before the occurrences in my life that led to me trying my hand at writing, I spent twenty-two years in the IT industry. Unhappy with the service of my publisher, a small, independent one, I realized that the future of my career depended on the future of publishing. As an IT architect, often called on to examine how a company’s business model could embrace or be migrated to the Internet, I turned that same eye toward publishing since I now had a vested interest.

What I learned completely changed my approach to publishing. Now, the terms POD (Print-on demand) and self-published didn’t sound as dirty or discouraging. Being just a talented author won’t be sufficient for success. The material in this article details where I see the future of publishing headed, and how to take advantage of it.

How do the traditional business models of recording and publishing compare?

For decades, the traditional business models of producing music and publishing books looked almost identical (see Figure 1). The artist, or author, was blocked off to the consumer requiring the service or business model of their respective industry to sell their work to the public. The differences between the recording industry and publishing industry were small, the similarities significant.

The following table details the overall similarities with the traditional record label’s business model and publisher’s business model. There is very little difference to both these models. This model has almost completely broken down and changed for the recording industry. The same causes for this drastic change are happening to the publishing industry. What were the events that led to the demise of the traditional recording industry business model?

Next Installment, I'll look at:

What happened to the traditional business model of the recording industry?

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I've got some good new, and I've got some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?

What, the good news? Nah, I think you want to hear the bad news first. I signed a contract for publication of Three of a Kind almost a year ago and the release date was August 28th, 2008, just a scant six weeks away. I canceled the contract.

What? Are you nuts, Steve? Maybe, maybe not. Look, I have always been an entrepreneurial person first and an artist second. At times, I'd like to be what I call the 'Martyr Artist.' You know, the one who just wants to paint, sculpt, or write and let someone else worry about the business side of things. Let me be free to create. Unfortunately, there's that entrepreneurial spirit and business background. While learning about marketing and distribution, I began to realize that my publisher fell short of an acceptable mark. It was an agonizing decision. I didn't put my heart into Three of a Kind and wait a year for it to be published with no investment of my soul also. After I made the announcement to my publisher and we agreed the contract was canceled, I melted down. I think the stress brought on a migraine that had me in a total state of pain, confusion, and puking for six hours. Not fun. I had to do what I thought was in my best interests as a writer and my future. It may have been a colossal mistake, but I don't think so or else I wouldn't have been able to go through with it. Yes, thank you for asking, I feel fine this morning.

So, what's the good news. Well, that remains to be seen. I now have the choice of self-publishing or starting the grind of acquiring an agent and/or publisher. The latter of the two almost guarantees that Three of a Kind would not be published for eighteen to twenty-four months, at a minimum. Can I wait that long with the entrepreneurial spirit burning inside of me? Probably not.

I'm currently writing an article on The Future of Publishing and will use the time to make a decision.

So, I must apologize to the few of you who pre-ordered my book or were awaiting its release. I guess the good news is that Three of a Kind will be published eventually and my chances of success will be exponentially higher. Ignore the fact that my finger's are crossed that means nothing, its an affliction, a nervous tick.

I will keep you updated. Peace out.

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Choosing an Independent publisher for your new novel

You've written your baby and you have decided, either through an agent or independently, to go with a smaller, independent publisher. What should you know before signing a contract? A lot, and since your new to the business there are questions you'd never think to ask, until it's too late. Signing with a large publisher vs. a smaller publisher is a completely different discussion that I'll be posting about soon.

The following is a list of things you need to ask and consider with a smaller, independent publisher. A large publishing house probably has these things covered, but it's still information you might want to know about them also. It can't hurt.

I also plan on posting a more in-depth discussion of why these are things you should know, but for now, if you have any questions post a comment or email me.

Things to think about:

1. Does the publisher have agreements directly with the big online booksellers; B&N, Borders, BAAM, Amazon, Amazon.uk, etc.
2. Does the publisher have agreements with any of the top independent or smaller booksellers; Books in Print, Alibris, Bertram, etc.?
3. Do these agreements with booksellers indicate that the bookseller keeps an inventory of the publisher’s titles, are they drop-ship agreements directly with the publisher, or is it an agreement to order books as needed through a distributer or wholesaler? This is important for many reasons. A specific one would consumer sales psychology. When the consumer wants to order the book, does it state, ships in 24 hours, sold and shipped by <NAME OF BOOKSELLER HERE> within 24 hours, or ships in 2 to 4 weeks?
4. How does the publisher track retail sales? Do they use Bookscan.com, another service, or is it all done in-house based on the publisher’s own tracking methods?
5. Can an author get their retail sales figures when asked for (within reason)?
6. How many retail sales of all available titles has the publisher had year-to-date? Retail specifically means books purchased online or from the shelf, not books sold by author or publisher at conventions, signings, etc.
7. Does the publisher have a dedicated marketing department with available resources and contacts (i.e. reviewers in newspaper, radio, TV, online, etc., comprehensive lists of independent, and chain booksellers to approach for signings, etc? Important, can they provide examples.
8. How many copies of a novel are printed on the first run, including both hardback and soft back? (More to the point, how much are they willing to spend on your initial distribution?)
9. How many copies of the novel does the author receive free, including hardback and soft back?
10. Can the author buy books at cost for promotional purposes?
11. Can the author get a list of the current editorial and marketing staff and their CV’s, or a summary of their experience?
12. Does the publisher provide a press release on the release of a new novel, and more specifically, where the press release is sent too (i.e. number of places and names)? Can the publisher provide examples of past press releases and where they were printed?
13. Does the publisher develop a marketing plan? If so, can they provide an example?
14. How much of the sample-marketing plan is their responsibility? How much of it is your responsibility?

 

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