Concerns about Outright E-Book Fraud

I'm as excited as the next guy or gal about the possibilities of e-publishing, but I have to admit a new fear: e-book theft.

This is not your run-of-the-mill piracy. That I can handle. There are two major camps on this older issue: 1) Anger over lost revenue because people are sharing your book and not paying you for it; 2) Excitement because it means your book is being read by more people. More people = more fans, and thus more readers and potential buyers for future products.

Yeah, I'm more in camp 2 on this point, and I think it's just an inevitable part of the business.

But I'm talking about something else here entirely, and it scares the heebie-jeebies (sp?) out of me. E-book theft is when someone takes your digital book and reposts it online under their name. In other words, they've stolen your book and selling it as their own.

And it's on the rise. Dave Farland in his Daily Kick yesterday talked about one 'author' who had stolen 350 titles and reposted them as his own e-book.

That's so outrageous it makes me more than angry. It makes me highly anxious over what may happen to the budding industry, to new authors with little clout to go after such thieves, especially in lawless lands like China where US copyright law has no power. Remember when the unauthorized Harry Potter book 7 came out before the official release date? The one with Gandalf in it?

Just in case you think I'm overreacting, read this article on "Spam Clogging Amazon's Kindle Self-publishing."

Scary because we might lose control over our own product, our own revenue, and even our own names.

It's also scary because it will impact how Amazon handles self-pubs. It will impact other sales vehicles, like Smashwords and B&N. And it will eventually, but quickly, impact how we as e-authors want to market and sell our books.

Suddenly I'm wondering if the big publishers won't find their own niche in this new world faster than we thought. If they can find a way to fight this kind of piracy successfully, they will have given themselves an edge they so desperately need.

We'll have to stand fast and find a way to beat these new nemeses.

As for me, I'm still working on option 3--the one I told you about a few posts ago. Don't worry, I'll reveal those plans soon!

J.K. Rowling on the Future of E-Books

J.K. Rowling just announced that she will provide the Harry Potter books as e-books through her own imprint. She's spent the last 2 years developing a new website that will have the e-books, games, and a whole Harry Potter world.

I find this fascinating. Print books will never die, and I think we must continue to use them as part of our marketing strategy, but e-books just keep gaining traction and power. I think more and more we need to consider the e-world and consider following in J.K. Rowling's footsteps, same as others.

She owns the digital rights to her books and stands to make a killing. Consider this: she doesn't have to pay Amazon.com a penny. So while most of us rush to Amazon to sell our books on the Kindle and earn 35% to 70% royalties, she's going to earn 100% royalties minus fees to pay for the site, which, of course, will be hugely interactive and popular.

The rise of e-books means greater control of product and marketing. That means we all stand to gain from sending people to our own websites and imprints. Of course, most of us will want to continue to use Amazon.com, Smashwords, and the other web portals that have marketing power and clout.

But at the same time, sell them from your own website. Find ways to attract readers there. For example, sell them from your website at a slight discount. If you sell a book for a dollar at Amazon, but only 50 cents at your website, you still earn more from your own site based on Amazon's pricing structure, and you will likely garner more sales from your site that way than you would otherwise. The same concepts, with different numbers, work with books at $2.99 at Amazon versus, say, $2.50 at your site.

You have to keep in mind the power of high sales at Amazon and consider what sending sales to your site means. Perhaps your site is interactive, engaging, and interesting, and the sales there are mostly part of your offering to fans--ease of purchase and pricing, etc., while you still promote Amazon.

No one has the clout of J.K. Rowling, the kind of clout where you can sell exclusively through your own site. But that should be a central part of your arsenal.

Story Structure, Character Structure

The past two weeks I've taken off from writing and planning book two in the Lizzie Peterson saga. In part that's because I just needed a break from editing, in part because I was deep into writing several articles for my day job as a writer and editor, and in part because I'm doing some serious research into story structure. Oh, and into publishing, but that's a different post.

I've been studying Larry Brooks' book, Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing. You can see the cover to the right.

Larry has some very inventive ideas about what makes up a story, character, theme, conflict, concept, and structure. It's got me thinking and rethinking and thinking some more. That's the danger with doing too much research into how to craft stories!   ;-)

So, combine this with Dan Wells' presentation at BYU's LTUE symposium two years ago, and you have two very nice approaches to the craft of story. Add Katherine Farmer's research on characters (no direct link to her, but a summary at my friend, Matt Tandy's blog), and you have several key concepts to consider when writing.

What I like about Larry's book, especially when I incorporate my own ideas and others' on story, is that it has the potential to make writing much, much more efficient, powerful, and engaging on all levels.

I'm naturally gifted at plot and dialogue, but I struggle a bit with character (except strong female characters, interestingly enough) and theme.

Now, I'm beginning to see how to see, delve into, and craft an entire world story before I even begin to type it. It's a fascinating journey.

So, if you are interested in really improving your craft, I recommend studying (not reading) Larry's book, watching Dan's presentation a few times, and finding someone who can share with you Katherine's methods (I don't want to give too much because she's writing a book on it and that might preempt her. But if you want to get together sometime, I can teach you what I know.)

What you need to understand is that story is structure, as Tracy Hickman and so many have told me. I've blundered my way through enough free writing and enough outlines to story that still lacked something that I've realized there is a deep, compelling need for a story to work on multiple levels.

The master writer, the truly gifted writer, I believe, is gifted not because she just intrinsically knows all this, but because she learns the craft so deeply that she can apply it and exercise it and manipulate it in the creation of the story. And that means fewer revisions, better stories that people want to read, and greater success as a writer.

That's a fantastic goal.

E-Publish or National Publish? I'll Take Option 3

Two weeks ago, my wife and I spent about 20 minutes in Barnes and Noble, wiling away some time before meeting others for dinner. She had some things to find; I was doing research.

I wanted to find current middle grade and young adult fantasy books that target my current audience. I had two goals: 1. See what is currently competing successfully for market share; 2. Cover analysis.

It took me a while. Things have changed in Barnes and Noble in the last year. I did manage to find a display table toward the back of the store that had plenty to review, but I also noticed that there wasn't quite the selection I had wanted. There were too many nicknacks and doodads.

Still, I didn't think much of it until a conversation with Tracy Hickman this week in which he commented on the same thing. He said that Barnes and Noble, in an attempt to reinvent itself, is becoming a nicknack store as much as anything.

Then there was this interesting post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The Business Rusch: Bookstore Observations.

She makes essentially the same observation, only the implications are worse than I had considered. Her conservative estimate is that over the last 10 months (between visits to a B&N) 20% of shelf space has disappeared. But it might be as high as 30%, replaced by the nicknacks, fewer shelves, books placed face out instead of spine out, and much more physical space devoted to Nooks. The result is that there is a lot less room for new authors, older titles by current authors, and even back list by the major hitters.

Sure, more space for Nooks might help sales, despite the irony, but it means less space for physical books.

Woah.

Yeah. Makes me think long and hard about what I want out of a national publisher, or even if I want one. I mean, if I did manage to gain an agent, and then gain a national publisher, and did accept the likely paltry 4 digit advance with no advertising dollars, where would they place the book? Who would find it? How would they sell it?

People aren't browsing in Barnes and Noble like they used to, and the store isn't even catering to that clientele like they did even a year ago.

On the other hand, e-publishing still requires a readership and a target audience of some size. There are some challenges for newbie writers. Even after footing the bill for a professional, market-quality cover (for middle grade fantasy, the market demands art, and that can run $3,000 or more), editing, page layout, and more, I may not have enough e-readers to make a difference or to sell to.

And, my marketing plan needs to get really ramped up to make inroads into buyers.

These are challenges we all face.

So what's the next best option if national publishing isn't going to happen, and e-publishing on its own, even with a POD hard copy available through a source like Createspace.com?

I believe the answer lies somewhere else. One possible solution is a subscription-based serial version of my product.

But I'm not so sure that would work for this age audience. I think they need the benefit of the entire product. Or rather, that's what they will want, whether as a hard copy or e-version.

Option 3? Well, it's a highly unusual venture, something I'd not thought about at all until talking it over with my guru.

I'm not quite ready to tell you what it is--I need a couple of weeks of research and strategic planning to see how viable it is. But I think I may have just found an opportunity that will change the current field. Revolutionary? Yes, and no, and perhaps not a permanent solution, either. But it might be the silver lining I've been looking for--and if it works for me, it should work for you.