Deborah's Journal

Nathan Bransford, who worked as a literary agent and then turned author, hosts Nathalie Whipple on the subject of the difference between "legacy" (traditional) and indie (self) publishers. The article explains the basics without going into too deep a discussion of why an author would choose one form of publishing over another.

The bottom line is that we are in the midst (or perhaps the end) of a period of time when most authors who went indie didn't have a choice. They were dropped by their traditional publishers or their advances went down past the point of sustainability or some other reason that caused them to look elsewhere. If they were going indie, they had to figure out how to get the same professional level of editing and book production that we take for granted with traditional publishers. Now that's happened -- which is not to say that there are no sloppily produced, unedited self-published books, but that there is an emerging understanding of how to do it right. This includes more readily available resources. Promoting self-published books takes an enormous amount of time and energy, that many authors feel could be better spent writing the next book. But it may not be necessary to perform every function of a legacy publisher by yourself.

When Book View Cafe (the online writer's cooperative) was founded over 5 years ago, we concentrated on epublishing our out of print backlist books. These had already gone through the editorial process and while they needed proofreading, they were essentially ready to go. Gradually we created internal procedures (a consensus understanding leading to a publication checklist) that enables us to not only put out quality original ebooks, but printed editions as well. (This latter is still in process, but I'm confident that there will soon be a BVC POD imprint.) We have contracts with audiobook producers and library distributors. We did this collectively, pooling our skills, but many of these opportunities are available to single self-published authors as well.

It will be fascinating to see what the next 5 years brings.

Self-publishing vs. Traditional: Some Straight Talk | Nathan Bransford, Author

Chris Dolley on Book View Cafe -- how we got started, how we work cooperatively, our successes and challenges.

We find that cooperation works surprisingly well. Part of this comes down to our selection procedure where ‘plays well with others’ is seen as an essential prerequisite to membership. Plus volunteering is catching. When you see people giving up their time to help you with your book, guiding you through the maze of book production and giving you marketing tips that you’d never even thought of…you feel compelled to return the favor. As one of our newer authors said recently, “This place *rocks.* I’ve never been so supported in my writing career!”

An Author-run Publishing Co-op With a Record of Success | Publishing Perspectives

dancing_horse and other writers hold forth on crowdsourcing:

"To use a severely overused word, this is a game-changer. For writers with established midlist careers and a dedicated fan following, it is possible to bypass the agents and publishers altogether and go direct to the readers. The readers judge, up front and in person, whether they want to throw their money in the pot—and if so, how much. ...What it does that has not been possible in all the time I’ve been in this business is let a small group of readers and fans support writers whose work they want to read. It’s a godsend for writers whose publishers have let them go for lack of sales; who have written series that were cut before completion; who have written projects that don’t fit the larger schematics—too odd or niche or cross-genre— but that do indeed have an audience waiting for just that kind of thing. Like space opera by a Female Fantasy Writer who isn’t a twentysomething."

MIND MELD: What Crowd Funding SF/F Novels Means for Authors and Publishers - SF Signal

A great podcast interview with Betsy Wollheim of DAW Books! (It's about 30 minutes long.) I loved what she said toward the end about why she's optimistic about the future of publishing.

Episode 52 of Speculate!-Betsy Wollheim Editor Interview | Speculate!

Here's what I'll be up to...plus hanging around, chatting... Please do say hello to me or come to one of my panels. (I'm on one with my husband, davetrow, always an adventure in hilarity, not to mention a whole bunch of other amazing and cool peeps.)

Growing Artistically Through Crisis on Friday from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM in
Lafayette (with Angelena Kyzar). For any artist, a discussion of the process of expressing our life crises and traumas into the media we create.

Ghostwriting -- Literally! What's it Like to Pick Up a Deceased Writer's Pen? on Friday from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM in Ballroom D (with Kevin Andrew Murphy, Brandon Sanderson, Diana L. Paxson). Many of our favorite authors were in the middle of writing something when they passed away. What's it like to pick up a deceased author's pen? Is it more important to create the author's intent, or is it ok to add your own style when you're now the one doing the work.

Young Adult Fiction: More that Blanking-out the Sex on Friday from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM in Camino Real (with Clare Bell, Ann Finnin, Diana L. Paxson). Young Adult Fiction is a rapidly growing sub-genre. What does it take to write YA, and how is it different from either children's or adult fiction?

Location, Location, Location -- Setting your Story in a Science Fiction World on Saturday from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM in Lafayette (with Chaz Brenchley, Clare Bell, T.S. Luikart, Allison Lonsdale). Your character has to live somewhere, and that somewhere needs to support the story. It's embarrassing to have a great scene all written involving bikini- or Speedo-dressed people, when they all live in the first permanent settlement on the Moon, and only landed yesterday....

Book View Cafe and ePublishing on Saturday from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM in
Ballroom D (with Irene Radford, Chaz Brenchley, Dave Trowbridge, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff). Book View Cafe members discuss their experiences with this authors' co-op and ePublishing.

Once Upon a Time, Brothers Grimm, Fables, and Other Looks at the Modern
Fairy Tale on Saturday from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM in Bayshore (with Kevin Andrew Murphy, Sandra Saidak, Kay Pannell, Lon Sarver, D.M. Atkins, Elwin Cotman, Eytan Kollin, Diana L. Paxson) These are not your grandmother's fairy tales or even your mother's. They show the story behind the story and more. Explore the new look at Fairy Tales in the Modern Age.

The Evolution of Female Characters in SF and Fantasy on Sunday from 1:00 PM
to 2:30 PM in Ballroom D (with Juliette Wade, Veronica Belmont, Daryl G. Frazetti, Brandon Sanderson, Diana L. Paxson). From damsels in distress to sword-wielding, gun-toting, and military masterminds, have women found their place, or are they 'feminized' men? Do the women truly reflect the changing attitudes of the roles of women?

Authors: Stop Blocking Your Own Potential! on Monday from 11:30 AM to 1:00
PM in Winchester (with Tony N. Todaro, Leslie Simon, Brandon Sanderson). For years the publishing industry has pushed and pulled authors into marketable categories that they can quantify, but today's readers are looking for something different. As long as you believe in your work and the enjoyment that it brings to you and those like you, give it to the masses. Figure out who you are, what you want the world to see, and commit to it! Then figure out how to reach people like you and go out and sell books!

From ChicagoTribune.com, an editorial by Aaron Gilbreath, who works at Powell's in Portland OR (one of my favorite bookstores!) Time for book publishers to fight dirty - chicagotribune.com

"Publishers should tantalize consumers by evoking books' sensory pleasures: the smell; the feel in your hands; that crisp, appealing crinkle of a turned page and smooth snap of a dust jacket. Publishers should elicit the joys of "curling up with a book," the satisfaction of seeing your library on a shelf in your bedroom — the years of your life marked by rows of colorful spines, the pages covered with marginalia. To do this, publishers could borrow vinyl enthusiasts' lines like, "Records have a certain smell. You can't smell an MP3," and, "I associate certain records' smells with a certain summer, a particular girlfriend." Audiophiles also discuss fidelity, how records sound undeniably better than MP3s. Surely there's a book analog waiting to be developed."

One of the blogs I follow is Book Ends, LLC. Today's posting is by Jessica Faust's client, author Kate Douglas. I almost fell over laughing when I read:

I’ve made no secret of the fact it took me forever to get my first New York contract. Even after I signed with Jessica, the running joke was that the best thing about having an agent was the fact she could get me rejected a whole lot faster than when I was submitting on my own. I was used to waiting a year—Jessica was getting rejections within weeks!

Luckily, I discovered I’d signed with an agent every bit as stubborn and hard-headed as I am, and eventually she got the right manuscript in front of the right editor at the right time.

The rest of the article is here.