So have you heard that Amanda Hocking, who is now the face of indie publishing success, signed a contract with St. Martin’s Press worth over 2 million dollars for 4 (four) books? That’s a ton of change to invest in 4 books but Amanda has a proven track record, selling over 1 million copies of her 9 (nine) self-published books, which she sold for $ .99 – $2.99. The larger question is will her fans follow her to that higher price point? St. Martin’s Press–as are all of the Big6 publishing companies–uses agency pricing when it comes to their digital books (this means the ebook price is fixed by them and cannot be discounted by the online retailer. Normally that price is set at the retail print price or higher). Time will tell if St. Martin’s risk–because this is a risk for them–pays off. For Amanda, this is an extremely smart move and a win-win situation for her. Even if her books fail to generate the kind of sales that would make this deal a profitable endeavor for St. Martin’s, she still walks away with a cool 2 plus million dollars and she can continue to self-publish to her heart’s content. Here’s a woman who made some damn fine lemonade with her lemons. Here’s the article announcing the deal, if you’re interested.
And in other news, Barry Eisler, a New York Times bestselling author of thrillers, apparently verbally agreed to publish his next two books with St. Martin’s Press for a reported $500,000 (it appears that St. Martin’s Press has their purse wide open and is spewing tons of cash) but changed his mind and has decided to self-publish his next novel titled The Detachment. During the bruhaha, Writer’s House–a well-respected literary agency–is no longer representing him. I suspect that was not a friendly parting of ways as it denied the agency a nice $75,000 on the deal. Now, of course, the industry is abuzz with the news and while some may condemn his move as short-sighted, others see him starting a trend for bestselling authors like himself. Here again, time will tell whether Mr. Eisler did the wise and sound thing for his writing career. I know I’ll be interested in how well The Detachment does when he releases it. Click here if you’d like to read his reasons behind his decision as he discusses it with Joe Konrath aka J.A. Konrath, a mystery, thriller author.
And today, Stephanie Laurens, New York Times and USA Today bestselling historical romance author, discusses digital pricing on her blog. Stephanie, like most other authors–new right on through to established–sees the changing shape of the publishing landscape and began writing weekly, very topical posts for all to discuss.
What I see occurring, is that the stigma of self-publishing as what authors do when they’re not ‘good enough’ for New York, going away. Especially, now that established and New York published authors are entering this arena. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that traditional publishers will always have a place in the publishing marketplace as long as they stop fighting the inevitability that is digital books eventually replacing or quickly gaining parity with–to a large degree–the printed book. I’m not sure in what time-frame this will occur, but like the VHS tapes, vinyl records and even CDs, which are quickly being usurped by .mp3 files, this will happen. And given the Publisher’s Week article linked here, I believe mass market paperback will be the first format affected.
I’m not sure if readers care about this kind of news but I’m pretty sure authors, from aspiring to bestselling, have their ears peeled for it. What do you think about the changing publishing landscape. Are you ready to dip your toe in the self-publishing pond, lake, ocean? Readers, do you care which publishing house–if any–puts out your favourite authors’ books? Do you even know which publishing house your favourite author writes for?
Comment and enter to win IT HAPPENED ONE SEASON, featuring a novella by the above mentioned Stephanie Laurens.
Do I care what publishing house a book comes from? Sometimes yes. For instance I used to try all of the book that Kensington Brava published because they had an amazing group of authors at the time. Currently one of my fav publishers is Berkley. Because they publish so many of the authors that I love I am more likely to give a new to me author a try that they publish.
The same holds true for digital books…probably even more so. I’ve come to trust that I will get a quality read from ebook publishers like Samhain, Carina, and possibly a few others. I am also more likely to try a new to me author if it is published through one of these sources.
Self published books are a whole different thing for me. I will only by a self published book if it is an author that I already know and love, or if it comes VERY highly recommended from someone that I know and trust. Even then, a good read is not always guaranteed. I’ve purchased a few self published books from an author that is both NY published, digitally published and self published….and her self published works are not the same quality as what I’ve come to expect from the other two ways. Now, I’ll still buy her print books, and her digital books from an online publisher, but when it comes to her self published works I am very wary. Her most recent one I decided to wait awhile and read the reviews. I’m glad I waited because it looks as if it would have been a mistake 🙁
I’m all for authors self pulishing their works and earning more of the pie for their hard earned work….as long as the quality is the same if not better than traditional publishing.
As an aspiring author I would try to self publish. Grand Central, Berkley, Dell, and Pocket Books put out a lot of the books I like.
@Booklover1335 I totally agree with you. I believe, just like you, the quality should be just as good or BETTER than that of a traditionally published book because I think you have to really prove yourself to readers when self-publishing. They need to be assured there will be no drop in quality.
I think this is a very interesting time in publishing and I am really devouring all of the posts that are being written about the people taking the self-publishing trend to the limits. I have been contemplating self-publishing for awhile, even as I continue to try for more traditional publishing. I think the world is our oyster for any writer who has a dream.
P.S. I already have this book, so please don’t enter me in the contest. I just wanted to add my thoughts to the discussion.
As a reader it never occured to me who my favorite authors were published by. It really does not matter with me. As long as the author is happy and continues to to write I will continue to buy their books.
I would grieve at the loss of mass market paperbacks, so I hope that there will be a continuing market for them.
If it’s a book that sounds good or an author I know, it doesn’t matter about the publisher. I do notice sometimes though and probably give the well known publishers a bit of the edge for certain types of books and consistency.
For my favorite authors, I don’t care who publishes their books, I will buy them anyway.
I usually don’t mind what publishing house my favorite authors are writing for. As long as I am able to find my favorite authors works I don’t mind. I do notice that when I am in a bookstore or library looking for books that I will pick up a book from one of the bigger publishing house before I pick up one that is lesser known.
I have a feeling that at first a lot of writers are going to self-publish. This means there will be many instances of sub-par material until things shake out. Eventually, more established writers will come onboard and lend credibility to this emerging medium.
I’m conflicted on the self-pub thing. Connie Brockaway just announced over on All About Romance that she’s going that route because publishers don’t want the kind of books she wants to write but her readers do. As a reader this is good and bad news. Good because your favorite authors get to do what they love best – write while you reap the benefits. Bad because even though I have a Kindle I still prefer the paperback and hate to see what eBooks are doing to our traditional brick and mortar stores. Also, self-pubs DO tend to be less quality in the main although there are a great many self-pubs out there that do an excellent job. I think it would be much easier for a popular author to head in the self-pub direction because they have the resouces (such as fan base and contacts) to put out a quality product and get people quickly on board. The fan base is important – think of it this way – When Connie Brockaway (amazing, so glad she is doing sequels!) broke the news that she was going “rogue” the buzz is immediate and her time spent on publicity is significantly less than that of a newbie writer trying to break in.
In any case, the world is changing, and who knows where we’ll be in a year …
I don’t care about the publisher as much as the author. As for self-pub, as long as there is a good editor involved, I’m fine with it.
What I dislike about ebooks is the lack of good covers. Since I often buy a book due to the artwork (or Paul Marron or Jed Hill) on the cover, this is important to me. I miss having a beautiful, embossed cover to view and touch.
As a reader I don’t know that much about which publishers are the most supportive of the established authors that I love and how much support they do or don’t give them. I believe that as I reader it would be helpful for new and established authors to help to educate readers on which publishers encourage and support them.
As a reader what can I do to let publishing houses know that I want them to continue to help new authors that I love that authors books? How can we let them know that we want an established authors series to be continued?
I think it would help if established and new authors could let readers like me know how we can help in making publishing houses know how much we love these authors and want them to continue to print their books and support them. The question is how do we do that?
Is the reader responsible for finding out on their own how to support an author or do authors need to start letting their loyal readers know what is going on and how we can let the publishing houses know how important you are to us?
As far as established publishing houses and self-publishing, as a reader I think that authors need to educate us as to what avenue is best for them for us to know whick opportunity we need to use to support them.
I don’t have a clue who publishes my favorite authors.
I don’t know or care who publishes the books I read. Self publishing sounds good to me. The ebooks should get published way faster than print. I also like the idea that more of the money I pay for a book will go to the author.
It doesn’t matter which publishing company my favorite authors write for. I know that some of them write for Avon and Berkley.
As an aspiring writer, I’m becoming much more interested in the idea of self-publishing – especially with so many big name authors giving it a try. As a reader who loves print books, I’m saddened by the idea of everything going electronic, but it does seem inevitable. I just read today that a future Midnight Breed title by Lara Adrian will be published in hardcover. I don’t buy hardcovers because they are too expensive. So I’m grateful I got a Kindle for Christmas and can buy this title in an ebook. Still, I wish it was going to be available as a mass market.
I’m still a bit scared of self-published books, unless it’s an author that I already know and enjoy. I’m afraid that the editing won’t be up to par, or there will be a lot of errors that weren’t caught. The authors that are publishing books that they’ve always wanted to write but their publisher wouldn’t allow them to, or a great author that has lost their publishing contract, I’d definitely go for those books. For a brand new (to me) author, I’d have to hear a lot more good buzz about the book before I’d take a chance.
Interesting post Bev. I know the publishing houses of some of the authors I like. I don’t have an ereader, but if I did, if a book looked good I would want to read it whether it’s a print book or a self-published book.
I am all for self publishing. I will have to say I don’t pay much attention to who published the book I am reading. If the book is good it really doesn’t matter who published it.
It is discouraging when formats change and leave many behind. I was not aware CD’s were in danger until I tried to buy a new multiple CD player and discovered they just aren’t many out there. An Ipod or MP3 player dock and maybe a 1 CD player seems to be the norm. I don’t want an MP3 or Ipod. I just want to listen to my CD’s.
Much the same is the case in the book world. Mass market paperbacks are the form many people prefer and can afford. They are convenient, reasonably priced, travel well, and don’t take up too much room. Yes, an e-reader fills some of those same criteria, plus it takes up much less space. Cost is the big drawback. The reader is expensive and if e-books are going to be priced the same as paperbacks, there is no savings as incentive. Another problem is technology . How long before the e-reader you have will be obsolete. A paper book is a book and will be the same 50 years from now as it is today. I don’t have to worry about not being to recharge them or having the reader malfunction or die. 300 years from now an archeologist will dig up an e-reader and have a chunk of plastic. Any book that was e-published only many not be available. Paper books at the same site stand a good chance of being salvaged. I have many old books and they have so much personality.
I think the cost of e-readers and e-books will reduce the number of books available to many if more books are put into e-form only. A large portion of the reading public will not have access to authors and books they would have enjoyed.
This does go to the self-publishing issue since the self-publishing being done is in e-form. I do not have an e-reader (still trying to decide). Several authors I like put books out in e-form only in the past few months. They were books I would have liked to read, but had no access to them. One was eventually available in print form. There has to be a solution out there that will work for everyone.
I don’t care who publishes a book, it’s the story appealing to me that is important, and that includes unknowns for me. I’ve been reading ebooks for many years and have picked up a few very good ones self-pubbed by authors unknown to me. I just read about Connie Brockway and being one of my very top authors was glad to see this as I’m very excited about those two sequels she’s going to do that she can’t get contracted. Hope this works out well for her, and great for her fans that self-publishing will give many of us those stories we’ve long wanted to read. The whole industry is changing, and so many of our favorite authors now can’t get their next book contracted, so this could be a good opportunity for them, and for us as readers wanting to read their next stories. As far as editing I would hope authors would be smart enough about this. Truthfully I’ve seen just as many, sometimes more, editing/typo errors in NY print books the past few years, and just a typo or two is not going to affect my enjoyment of a great story. Sure who takes steps to ensure proper editing.
Today, I read Alexis Harrington’s self-published Home by Morning. Wow. It was as good, or better, than many big-name-publisher titles. Self-published does not equate to amateurish.
This is a tough question to answer. Is it wise move on Mr. Eisler’s part — only time will tell. I believe that self-publishing is a wave in the future.
I don’t really pay attention to which publisher puts out the books from the authors I buy. I think publishers have to accept that ebooks need to be priced lower than print books. I don’t see an ebook as having as much value as a print book but if it’s priced right then it’s something I might choose.
I don’t pay that much attention to publisher although I know most of my favorite authors are with Avon. I’m more concerned with the author and the format published. I’m still one of those people who are stuck in the print age. If my favorite authors are no longer being published in print format, I’ll have to carefully consider whether or not to buy an ereader in order to keep up with their current releases. That said, I could probably NOT buy an ereader and simply read all the 975 paperbacks I have sitting on shelves behind me right now just waiting to be read….and never buy another book and never run out!
I agree with lots being said here today. Pricing of ebooks should be lower than print since actual costs to produce an ebook are lower. Certainly there are editors, etc still involved, but the largest share of the cost for paper, production, packaging and shipping are not a factor. Buy keeping the price the same, does the author get more in their pocket or is the publishing house clearing higher profits?
Now, I have what I consider to be a ‘dumb question’ and maybe someone can satisfactorily explain to me….what is the difference between ‘paperback edition’ and ‘mass market paperback edition’? I’ve seen same titles published under both ‘formats’ and the only difference I see is ISBN.
I don’t care which publishing house my favorite authors write for. I pick up their books because I like their writing. If they switch publishers, that does not impact me in the least. I also think authors should consider all options for getting their books before an audience. If going the traditional publishing route doesn’t work, by all means try self-epublishing. Why not?
I used to pay no attention at all to the publishing houses involved in publishing the books I was reading. Now I’m much more familiar with them due to Agency pricing, but not in a good way. These days, I rarely buy from them because I hate their pricing policies regarding ebooks and I don’t wish to support their price fixing with my hard-earned dollars. I still do make exceptions for a couple of auto-buy authors, but for everyone else, I wait for a used copy to come available on one of the swap sites rather than buying new.
I do read self-published books pretty extensively. Two years ago, when I first started reading them, the quality was not up to par, but I’ve gotten better at judging them from the samples, and now that established authors are releasing their backlists as well as books that are quirkier and didn’t sell to the large publishers, there’s more higher quality stuff to choose from.
I don’t pay attention to editors in other genres, but I definitely do in romance. I really trust Angie James, for example. Hilary Sares is another person I look for when thumbing through backlist Kensington titles. I trust that they acquire books I will enjoy and put out a quality product. I think the biggest thing is knowing I will receive a satisfying experience after parting with money. For authors whose voice I already trust, this is less of a big deal — but for new-to-me authors it’s critical. Then again … I also waver on paying agency pricing for an author who’s e-published work I enjoy. Lorelei James for example. Why would I pay 9.99 for her Penguin books when I can get her Samhain ones for 5.50, when I know that the writing voice and quality that I enjoy will be the same?
I thought my favorite publisher was Avon (I do read many Avon authors), but I checked who published my favorite books of 2010 and only two were Avon. Berkley Sensation and Pocket Books published two each. Balentine, Jove, Harlequin, Leisure, Zebra, Bantam, Source Books, and Signet Eclipse each published another of my favorites. Hopefully, they won’t all go out of business since I love holding books in my hand when I read.
On the other hand, Connie Brockway has announced that she is planning to self-publish sequels to two of my favorite books of hers and I plan to buy the e-books and read them on my Nook.
Karen H.,
I hope you get an answer about the difference between mass market paperback and paperback. I’ve often wondered about that.
I don’t know who publishes my favorite books. Yes I recognice the names (or picture) on the covers but I don’t remember them. To me it does not matter, I’m all about the story and if I like an author that’s what makes me buy them.
I have to admit that I usually don’t notice who are the publishers for my favorite authors.
WOW! Good for her! I am going to have to watch this and keep updated. What a great position to be in. I have favorite publishers as well as favorite authors… ( :
It doesn’t matter to me who the publisher is when it comes to my favorite authors – I just buy their books. I am very excited about taking a look at the self-published authors now that Connie made her announcement. I will admit I have bought some self-published books, and I was sometimes very surprised at how well written they were, but then there were others that weren’t so well written – so it was a crap-shoot. Which is why I have found blogs! I expect anything out there that is really really good and worthy of me spending my book dollars on, is sure to be reviewed!