Publishers May No Longer Be Necessary

If you have participated in the publishing industry over the past 10 years or so, you have been part of one of the most dramatic paradigm changes in the history of modern economics. If you haven't then pay attention because I believe these changes will pervade almost all areas of business over the next 10 years. Sit back and let me explain for a minute.

The Old Guard

For over 100 years the publishing industry has operated under a very specific mechanism. An author will write a book. She will toil away for hours every day. Days turn into weeks. Weeks turn into months. Finally, when she can no longer stand the work gnawing away at her soul, she sends it out querying agents to represent her work. She submits a few chapters as a taste, hoping to get a bite from at least one agent. IF she is lucky and the work is good enough and all the stars align and lightning strikes twice and she holds her breath and is persistent enough, she will get a request for the full manuscript. From that small group of second looks maybe an agent will pick her up as a client. THEN, the agent will basically do the same to publishers looking for a publisher to actually print the work.

That insane amount of work could land the lucky few a big million dollar contract. What percent? Who knows. Chances are, if the book sells to a publisher at all, the contract looks a bit more like this. The author will get an advance of about $5,000. Then if that pays out, she will get 12-17% on her books from that point on, but don't count on her book advancing out. And the agent takes a 15% cut of that, leaving the author with something looking more like 10-15%. Most don't make out the advance, however.

The tough part about all of this is that the Big Huge Publishing house gets to keep the rights to her books (including digital rights and overseas rights and movie rights, etc) for nearly ever because of loopholes in the contracts that she signed.

The New Hotness

Now, fast forward to the present. Amazon digital publishing is HUGE. Independent authors make up a giant portion of the publishing industry. Amazon's Kindle has been around for over 5 years and Amazon is GROWING. Now, to be fair, the growth of e-book sales is slowing. What that means is that the percentage by which the number of e-book sales has grown in the past years is lessening. meaning 100% growth two years ago, 50% growth this year, and maybe a smaller percentage growth next year. It's still growth, just not as fast.

With Kindle Direct Publishing (self published on Amazon.com), the author makes 70% royalties on any e-book sold with a price of $2.99 or more and 35% on any priced under the $2.99 price point. Even more, the author keeps ALL rights to the work. The author can change the price at any time.

What's it All Mean?

I am sure if you are informed on the publishing industry at all that you know there are benefits to having an agent and a traditional/legacy publisher. If you are familiar with this topic at all though, you know you can buy all the editing, proofing, cover design, marketing, and print that any publisher can. In fact, you might be able to do it for much less than a traditional publisher will take out of your earnings. Some interesting numbers are starting to show up, and they are scaring Big Publishing. Some of the biggest proponents are rushing to put out articles to refute various claims being made by independent publishers. You can check some of those numbers yourself at www.authorearnings.com and maybe you will see what I am referring to. If you don't care to follow the link, here are the basics. A HUGE percentage of the top 50,000 bestselling books on Amazon are written and distributed privately by independent authors. Don't believe me or want a different perspective, check out J.A. Konrath's post on the same numbers here.

If you are writing and don't already have a major publishing deal, consider self publishing. But first make sure you have the basics covered like strong writing, good editing, a great cover, and great formatting.

You can read my short stories on your Kindle today, find a complete list here.

image courtesy: www.morguefile.com used under morgueFile License

How I Write: Having the Right Mindset to Pen a Masterpiece

I have noticed that I have to be in a certain mindset to write, but when I am in that mindset, there is no stopping me. I can't have other people in the room with me. I have to have music. I can't have other things I need to be doing at all. Finally, I need to be somewhat tired. I am trying to figure out why I need those things and if they will hinder me in my career as a writer. After all, if I can't write, how can I publish and earn an income?

I Need Solitude
I thought this one was straight forward. Then I really looked at it. I don't have to be alone. I just have to feel alone. I can write with my wife asleep no problem. I can write in a library without problem. So after really looking at things I actually only need the illusion of solitude. That being said, I do NEED that illusion. It feels like I am being watched if the other people in the room have interacted with me at all.

I Need Music
It often doesn't matter what type of music I listen to. I think the type of music is more directed at how quickly I want to write. The more that I need to write, the closer my music gets to speed metal. This is a good thing. Some musicians I am listening to today while I write are:

• DragonForce
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra
• Kamelot

Who do you listen to while you write?

I Need a Cleared Schedule

I write for a couple of content sites as well as my fiction writing. Sometimes, when I am writing for one or the other place, it feels like I am neglecting the others. I know that isn't exactly true, but here's what happens. I get started writing which makes me guilty about the other sites. I check on that site and start something. That makes me Google something else. By the end of it all, I have two half written posts and 14 or 15 browser tabs open. Does that make me a bad professional writer? I don't know, maybe.

I Need to be Tired

This one is probably the oddest of all. I have found over time that I need to be relaxed to the point of being sleepy to write well. I have a ton more errors, but the writing seems to flow better. I think it's the uninhibited nature of half-sleep writing that forces this. I bet this is where authors become addicts and alcoholics.Stephen King who admits that he wrote most of his stuff from the 70's and 80's completely smashed. That lack of inhibition is key to good writing.

Do you have any writing rituals or needs to be able to write?

New Site Design and New Ideas

Today has not been an overly productive day. Perhaps it has been a bit more productive than yesterday, but not by much. I banged out a few articles on an article revenue sharing site that I use frequently. I took the older daughter to the doctor (more about that in a minute). I spent a LONG time in Hobby Lobby looking at steampunk inspired house decorations. Finally, I sat down with my youngest child to work on her homework.

Yesterday I spent a bit of time looking at Blogger themes. Today I finally decided on one. It's playful and fun, but not too out there. I will probably change it if something else comes along to strike my fancy, but for now it is about right. It describes what I have been doing lately. Chaotically trying to write as much as possible in as many places as possible. The theme was titled chaotic writer's desk or something like that. I think the theme itself has helped me be a bit more creative in my writing over the past day or two.

That brings me to my next point. Look for more fiction from me in the near future. I have a few short story ideas set up and ready to go. One or more should be ready in coming weeks. I hope you like them.

On a more personal note, my daughter's doctor's appointment went about how I thought it would. She has to go back tomorrow for a CT scan. I don't like that she has been having headaches, and I want to get to the bottom of it. My son had a brain tumor, and that shattered my entire life. I don't know what I would do if she had anything similar. But I do know, we will get through.

Our Hobby Lobby trip was mostly fun. My wife has multiple sclerosis (MS), at least that's what the neurologist thinks. He needs another MRI to know for sure. If you don't know what MS is, then look it up. It's a really messed up disease that affects all sorts of functions of the brain. Today, for example, my wife and kids and I were shopping and having a jolly time through Hobby Lobby. After a while, I noticed the inside of my wife's elbow (is that an elbow pit? I don't know.) was cold and clammy. I know that's weird to share, but it's the first sign of something a bit more worrisome. I pointed it out, and she declared she was fine. Less than 30 minutes later she was barely able to walk. I barely managed to get her to the car while the kids paid for the items we found. Five minutes after that, she couldn't really form words very well. That condition persisted for about an hour to an hour and a half. She is still struggling a bit to walk six hours later, but is generally better.

I hope I haven't over-shared my life here with you, but I guess that's part of what blogs are for.