Kindle Story #2: Forget Me Not

Hi, again! Hope you've had a chance to give my new Kindle story The Skeleton Project a try. I've just published a new story called Forget Me Not. It's a story I've always been quite fond of because I cannot stand prejudices of any kind. Seriously, all that clique stuff in high school drove me nuts. As if people need to fabricate reasons to be mean to each other. Sheesh.

Anyway. Here's Forget Me Not on Kindle for just $1.29. Hope you like it. After reading, please consider posting a review on Amazon. Those reviews are HUGE.

Check Out "Forget Me Not" on Amazon

PS: If you don't have a Kindle, remember you can still read Kindle stories on most devices using Amazon's free Apps. You can read on your PC or Mac, your Phone, or iPad. Cool! See link below.

Free Reading Apps From Amazon

Spearhead Books: United We Write

Last year, Amazon.com revealed that it had sold more eBooks than paper books for the first time in its history. That signaled a shift. Suddenly, the tide in the literary bay was sucked out to sea, leaving a muddy bog of barnacle-crusted driftwood and flopping fish. Observers were perplexed at the phenomenon. iPads, Kindles, Nooks, and eReaders of all makes and models began to appear, even in the hands of the most dedicated paper-philes. Authors all over began to realize: "Wait a minute, I'm working my tail or sacrificing myself and my family for a mere pittance. But with eBooks, suddenly, I can earn something much more reasonable? Hmmm...

A wall of water rose up and came crashing into literary bay, knocking publishers for a loop and offering the most boss waves ever for amateur writers everywhere. Suddenly anyone. ANYONE could get published. Pay for a cover. Pay for formatting. Or do both yourself. Upload it, and ZAM, you're on Amazon. This is quite possibly the greatest thing ever to happen to writers, but might also be somewhat of a stifling puzzle for readers. You're sitting there with a brand new Kindle and go to browse for books. SMACK, wave after wave after wave of potential titles knock you on your electronic keister. (see the pic above)  YIKE How do you know what books to get? How do you know which unknown author to trust? For Christian readers, the issue is compounded. How do I know I'm getting a story that I won't feel dirty while I'm reading it?
 

Enter Spearhead Books. Spearhead is a professional writer's guild.  The concept originated in the mighty minds of the Miller Brothers and was sharpened by the likes of Christopher Hopper and yours truly. We are creating a brand, a seal of trust. When you go looking for new books, we want you to have a landing pad, a place to start. Four authors now, but many more to come. And every single title published will be: professionally edited and proofed, triple-checked for content, and adhere to a standard of Biblical quality. 

A user-friendly rating system will let readers know the kind of content they can expect. Easy to browse listings and reader reviews--even an interactive forum will allow the most important people: THE READERS to help other readers find something they'll like. Come visit the Spearhead website. Take a look around. This is the kickoff, and there's much, much more to come.

P.S.

I didn't want to take any spotlight from the Spearhead announcement, but thought some of you might want to see the cover for The Errant King, book 2 of the Dark Sea Annals. What do you think?

eBooks: Bringing Down the House, Part 2

A little over a year ago, I wrote an article about the advent of eBooks and what it means for traditional publishing. If you'd like to read that article first, visit here:

eBooks: Bringing Down the House, Part 1

My friend and coauthor Christopher Hopper recently posted a very thought provoking article on the same subject. If you'd like to read that article, visit here:

The Future of Print Books

Christopher's article and some of the comments afterward got me thinking a bit. I don't wish anyone ill, and I don't want to see anyone's career disappear, but honestly, I'm glad to see the Big Print Publishers in a bit of turmoil right now. You might be asking, "Are print publishers in turmoil right now?"

To answer that question, all you have to do is take a look at how big publishing houses are approaching the eBook phenomenon. By and large, what they are doing is pricing their eBooks at about the same price or a little less than print copies of their books.

James Patterson, for example. Latest book in Hardcover: $16.79, eBook: $14.99
Christopher Paolini's New Inheritance book in Hardcover: $14.99, ebook: $13.99
Stephanie Meyer's Twilight in Paperback: $7.99, ebook: $8.99

So...where's the turmoil? It's in the mindset. Publishers are trying to "protect" their print books by pricing the ebooks similarly. Rather than embracing the digital revolution, they are trying to cut their losses. Print publishers don't seem to understand or want to recognize that consumers will not pay that kind of money for noncorporeal property. It's binary folks. We don't pay top dollar for that. See iTunes. Sure, some folks will, but most will not. And right now, independent authors and Amazon are vexing print publishers to no end because they are offering excellent fiction for low cost: .99--$2.99. That kind of money is pretty much chump change, discretionary for a LOT of readers. And, therefore, these readers are willing to buy ebooks and lots of them. But not at hardcover prices. So what's happening? On Amazon, kindle book sales have now surpassed print sales. Borders Bookstores are on their way out. Print publishers are struggling.

And while I do not rejoice at anyone losing a job, I am happy that print publishing houses are having their trees shaken a bit. There are several reasons why I'm happy, but I'll give you two:

#1 Talent Selection: Publishing houses have been the gatekeepers for decades, judging the talents and marketability of authors and wannabe authors, and deciding what gets into print and what doesn't. Now, it's good to have a standard of excellence, right? Of course. And to their credit, there are a ton of hardworking and brilliant editors out there. Consequently, we've seen some pretty good books on the market. BUT, and this is a Grande Gluteus Maximous: How many sensational stories have they missed?

Ever thought about that? We've all read tons and tons of anecdotes from published authors who got rejected hundreds of times before finally landing a deal. Think about that. Big Time multimillion selling authors were rejected. I wonder how many brilliant authors over the years got discouraged by rejection and just gave up. Makes me sad to think about that. I might have been one of them. I scored dozens and dozens of rejections. There were times I thought about giving it up.

Why do print publishers miss great authors? A million reasons. But most reasons flow out of the system itself. Think about it: Joe Publisher decides what you will like to read. Sound a little odd? Sure, once sales are accrued, then the buying public directs future book deals. But many times, it's just a single editor or a marketing guru putting their finger in the air and saying, "Yeah, I think it's time for pirate stories to make a comeback." Often, they simply look at what movies are popular and try to hop on the bandwagon.

Another factor is that editors are often bombarded with manuscripts. Hundreds and hundreds of potential books every week. Sometimes, editors have precious little time to read a manuscript, often deciding yes/no in the first few pages. Everything else: stamp REJECTED.

And then, when the editor finds something he/she likes, it has to go through all kinds of hoops to ever see the light of day. There are many times that an editor may LOVE a book concept, but the marketer says, I can't sell this: stamp REJECTED.

The system is flawed. Who should decide what you like to read? You should, of course. eBooks are going to make that possible. Any author will have a shot at making a reader out of you. But won't that put a lot of crud out on the market? Sure. But there's already crud out in print publishing. For every book that sells 20,000 copies, there are tens of thousands that sell a few hundred copies. With the internet, word will get round. Just like any other product in the free market. You like it, you tell someone. They like it, boom! Word spreads.

#2: Talent Compensation: Most people are absolutely floored when I share with them about how much I make for each book of mine that sells. I'm almost embarrassed to tell folks sometimes, especially to those people who know me well and know how hard I work, how many hours I sacrifice, and how stressful it can all be. The current publishing paradigm does just what other industries have done (esp. music industry); it steals from the talent. The industry standard for fiction royalties is somewhere between 10-15% of gross (in secular market) and 8-12% of net (in CBA market). In other words, if you sell a $16.99 hardback, you make $1.69--$2.54 or, if off of Net, much much less. And what most nonauthors do not understand is that the majority of their sales will not fall into this category at all. There are hundreds of different subsidiary rights that cut, and cut, and cut the royalties.

Since 2005 when The Door Within released, I've sold more than a quarter of a million books. If I'd made a dollar a book on those, I'd be ridiculously underpaid. As it is, I -WISH- I had made a dollar a book. Not. So. Much.

I'm not an anomaly. As the print publishing paradigm stands, the talent--the writer--gets a tiny percentage of what the book brings in. The lion's share goes to the publisher. Oh sure, the publisher has to pay everyone and their uncle: distributors, editors, proofreaders, typesetters, etc. But in the end, the publisher earns out so much more than the author. eBooks are changing that.

With an eBook, I can write a book, and that costs me only time. I can pay to have it edited or find a willing soul to do it free. I will need a professional cover. I will need eBook formatting. I can get it all done for between $500-$1000 easy. Then, I can put my book up on Amazon and sell it for $2.99 and get…I almost can't write it without goose bumps…70% royalties. It doesn't require a marketing guru to figure out the profit differential: Print Publishing, sell 1000 books at $10.99 at 12% royalties versus selling 1000 eBooks at $2.99 at 70% royalties. Print = $1,648; eBook = $2, 093. Subtract all the reduced subsidiary rights sales, and eBooks even look more attractive.

And that is why this summer, I will be releasing my first exclusive eBook: "Ghost." You'll be able to get it on Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, Nook, etc. etc. for $2.99. I will not be signing a print contract on this book, the first of a LONNNNG series, hopefully. I'm intending this eBook to appeal to adult readers, and hoping it catches fire. For those who really want a printed version, I'm going to make it available using a Print-On-Demand service. Much more on that later.

So, will eBooks bring down the House? If print publishers don't embrace the new paradigm, yes. I predict in the next five years you will see the least flexible publishers fail utterly. Those that change will likely flourish.

All I want, and all any reader should want, is for good stories to be available at a reasonable cost.

GHOST sighting...

Hi, Elves and Readers! Today, I'd like to tell you about Ghost, a new novel I've been working on for some time. Ghost is about half finished, and I have a cover design due in February. I intend to release it for Amazon Kindle this summer 2011. I will probably also release it on Smashwords and elsewhere for those who don't have Kindle but want to download Ghost in another format. There's even a print on demand service I'm investigating for those who want a hard copy.

About the Story: Ghost fits into the genre of Supernatural Thriller, in the same vein as Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, the X-Files, Nightstalker, etc. For my younger readers, please note that this is a story for adult readers. Why? It won't be for sex and bad language--that's a promise. And it won't be for gratuitous violence either. I'd say the violence and bloodshed would be on par with my pirate books.

So why the audience designation? Two reasons: these books will deal with the criminal element, and while there will be no explicit scenes, there will be topics that will disturb younger readers. Ghost is a special sort of investigator who will go after the worst of the worst criminals, the ones no one else can or will catch. These are villains who have literally been getting away with murder...or worse. Another reason for the change in reading audience is that these books will be on a whole new level of intensity. Seriously. We're talking, white-knuckle, pit of your stomach, fear. There's a point to it all as well, and hopefully a message of hope.

God says, vengeance belongs to Him. Ghost will be the instrument of that vengeance. 

Epic Fantasy for a fairy tale price!

We've been discussing the coming eBook revolution here quite a bit lately. Seems like the market is beginning to explode. This just in from fantastic author LB Graham: He's offering the first book of his epic Binding of the Blade series for just 99 cents. That's .99!  That's like a sixth of a penny per page! Ridiculous! If you have any kind of eReader, go get this now!

When I call LB's work "Epic" please understand, I'm using the word accurately. LB is one of the best world builders I know. Brilliant. Tolkienesque. And don't let the old school cover art fool you. This is a timeless tale. Awesome stuff.

Click here to get Beyond the Summer Land for 99cents! 

eBooks: Bringing Down the House?

 

I'm probably in the minority, but I truly believe that digital publishing will, for all intents and purposes, replace print publishing. Here's how I think it will happen:

1) Over the next 15 years, Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, B&N Nook, The iPad, etc. will be joined by a dozen other eReaders, and the price of those devices will come down markedly. Some shrewd companies will offer to "give" their eReaders away with a paid yearly contract, say, you'll purchase 20-30 eBooks a year. Much like cell phones now. You can get a BOSS COOL phone, IF you sign up for a plan, right?

2. Print Publishers will continue to operate, but they will need to change the way of doing business or they will perish. Here's how they will need to change:

A) Forced to compete with ePublishers who offer much better royalty percentages to authors, print publishers will offer dual royalties, raising the percentage of print royalty money and including a very high percentage of eBook money.

B) Over time, print publishers will have smaller and smaller print runs of all but the biggest name authors. Smaller quantities will be shipped to brick-n-Mortar stores and be available to the consumer in what will be a "collector's only" market.

C) Print Publishers will modernize their operations to become "Print on Demand" publishers. With smaller print runs and smaller numbers of books in-store, publishers will find a way to take "demand" orders, print, and send books as fast or faster than Amazon currently ships. It may be that brick and mortar stores will open up their own printing presses, kind of like Kinkos, and will be able to print your book "while you wait."

3) Authors will wake up and realize that they are strong. For decades, the creative artist has been exploited by the music industry, publishers, radio, tv, film, etc. In publishing for instance, it's very common for an author to make just 10-12% of what a book actually sells for, in many cases, that's off the publisher's sell price to the brick and mortar chains. That means 88-90% of the book money is going somewhere else besides the artist. Obviously, there are a lot of people who currently play a part in getting a book to the shelf, and all these people need to get paid too, right? But shouldn't the artist get a larger percentage? Look at it this way: Can you imagine if Pro Football players only received 10-12% of their contracted millions, and the rest went to the people who coach, train, design uniforms, etc? It's not a perfect analogy, I admit. But if it worked like that, how long would the NFL survive?

With the advent of ePublishing, authors who are being exploited will begin to break away from their traditional print publisher shackles. They will become their own publishing companies, publishing eBooks exclusively or forming partnerships with print-on-demand companies.

4. We'll also begin to see a massive drop in price for eBooks. Right now, publishers are going to the mattress with Amazon over eBook prices. Traditional publishers want their "eBooks" priced at 60-80% of what the hardcover paper book would cost. Makes sense for the publisher who would make a MASSIVE windfall of profit since they can chop 70% of their production budget on every eBook. After all, no charge for paper, no charge for binding, no charge for shipping, warehousing, etc. Amazon wants the price low. Why? Increased profits. They know that pricing eBooks too high will cut WAY down on who buys. It is digital info, after all. Intellectual value? Yes. Material value? No. And that leads to the next reason that the price will go low: High price leads to digital piracy.

We live in a broken world where people redefine right/wrong all the time. Guaranteed as soon as you price The Door Within Part 7 at $16.99, there are going to be those who pirate it. What about DRM protection? Sure, they'll try. But someone will find a way around it. Let's take a look at some hypothetical numbers.

eBook A priced at $12.99 sells 4,600 copies in a year. If the publisher makes 50% profit on that book, then, the publisher takes in $29,877 profit on that book.

eBook B priced at $2.99 sells 50,000 copies. If the publisher takes in even 30% of that pie, the publisher makes $44,850. That's a substantial upgrade.

5. The Public Will Decide. In the past, publishers have used their various formulae and observations to determine what they believe they can sell. Then, they judge the quality of potential manuscripts and make the call about what will sell. Hopefully, they get it right, and good books get published. Poor quality books, don't.

That may continue in some capacity as Amazon and other online publishers may adopt some quality standards for what they will publish. But largely, the public will decide. People will go hunting for new books, trying to discover the "next big thing." Word of mouth will travel--at light speed online. And goodstuff will rise out of the murky not-so-good-stuff.

Maybe Amazon will adopt a "sell so many copies or get booted off the site" policy. Not sure. But more than ever before, the public will determine what they like. And that sounds good to me.

But, you might argue, you mean ANYONE can get published? Then there will be tons of terrible material out there to wade through. Yes and no. There might be a quality control standard in place, kind of watchdogs for the digital marketplace. Or, there may not. But either way, the reality is that most people want to have a book published. But most people don't want to do the work required to get a book published. Writing a book is hard work. It requires discipline, passion, and sacrifice. Butt-in-chair means it's not on the golf course or at Don Pablos sipping a cherry Pepsi.

So will there be a little extra chaff to sift through? Yes. But look at it this way. Isn't there already a ton of chaff out there being published? I've read a few books in my time that made me want to say, "Now there's six hours of my life I won't get back."

In conclusion: I love paper books. I may never buy an eBook myself. I like rooms full of books. I like holding books. I take books to the beach and up into my bed. But I was born with paper books. I might feel very differently if I was born with an iPad in my hand. And, unless I'm way off here, the publishing world is about to be hit by a digital temblor...because this generation is the digital generation.

I need your ePinion about something...

 

Hi, all! I guess, by now, everyone has heard of eBook readers: Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader, etc. Kinda makes you wonder where the publishing business is going. But the purpose of this post is NOT to debate whether or not paper books would ever or should ever go away. 

But I want to do some fact finding. I figure most of the folks who visit here are pretty avid readers. What I want to know is how many of you:

A) Own an eBook reader of some kind or have access to one?

B) And, of those who could potentially read eBooks on a reader: what would you think of me writing a book to publish ONLY for eReaders? I literally have 24-28 book concepts fleshed out and saved in digital folders. What if I wrote one just for eBooks? The price would be much lower $3-5, most likely. 

Thoughts? Insights?