A Few Thoughts on Indie Publishing and Bestseller Lists #Pubtalk #Indie #ASMSG

Digital Book World sent out an email today highlighting an article about the world's most expensive Print On Demand machine made for bookstores. The actual article is pretty cool, but its the whole tone of it, and this stupid line in DBW's email that set me off,

Espresso Book Machines' print-on-demand technology impressed many in the publishing world when they debuted years ago, before the ebook boom had hit its stride, but they mostly failed to take off. With ebook growth flat, print holding steady and interest strong among publishers in shaking up the distribution landscape, some wonder if now's the time to dust the technology off.

I read every email from DBW, keeping my thumb on the industry, and these guys never fail to make me cackle at the absurd assertion that ebook growth is flat.

Ebook growth is soaring, if you count all the non-ISBN ebook titles. If you only count ISBN ebook titles, then its probably flat, maybe even starting to decline...

What does that say about the ebook industry?  ISBN titles are predominantly coming out of the traditional publishing world, apart from some of the ebook titles pubbed on non-Amazon retailers that still use ISBNs (like everything spit out via Smashwords).

Its the non-ISBN titles that represent the largest growth category in publishing today, because that is where the Indie explosion is happening. If a book has no ISBN, there's about a 99.99999% chance its an Indie title. Traditional publishers ALWAYS use ISBNs.

I'm unhappy with Amazon for several reasons right now, mostly involving Kindle Unlimited and the damage that program is doing to Indie publishing, but when it comes to ebook sales, I know the truth. I'm in the trenches with the Indie community. Hell, I have tools like Kindlespy http://www.kdspy.com/ that lets me estimate the kindle sales across categories and keyword phrases. Its not a secret. The data is there for anyone who wants to look for it.

Hugh Howey and dataguy went through the trouble of laying it out, probably using similar software as Kindlespy. They combed the bestseller lists and identified Indie vs. Traditional titles and their sales levels in ebook, and the approximate earnings paid to the authors. http://authorearnings.com/ The data is out there to be had.

I can guarantee you that sales are not flat. Borrows might be overtaking a percentage of sales in the KU ecosystem, but the level of ebook buying/borrowing activity is definitely not flat.

The only flat statistics come from the ISBN world.

What should be a wakeup call is the alarming fact that the publishing industry is either unaware of the massive ebook sales growth that's passing them by, or they're ignoring it, in favor of unreliable industry stats.

I happen to know numerous Indie authors who are making double-digit thousands a month on titles that have no ISBN tracking. Do you think their ebook sales growth is flat? Not even close. Every time they put out a new book (which is almost monthly--working in short novellas or serial fiction--or just plain writing their asses off), their sales spike, over and over, and continue to grow across their entire catalog.

In fact, I suspect that there would be more Indies hitting NYT and USA Today list status if they understood that non-ISBN titles are submitted to NYT and USA Today separately from the same title of book bearing an ISBN!! In other words, you only get aggregate sales counts at the bestseller lists by having the ISBN MATCH on all retailers.

And, as you may not have been aware, some retailers actually reserve spots on their bestseller lists for their Big 5 trad pub corporate clients. So, even if you're selling gangbusters, you might find that all of a sudden, your rankings drop and you're no longer sitting in the top 100 at a given retailer, because they needed your spot on the list, your book was taking up a reserved parking space. 

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/4244850-important-barnes-and-noble-is-censoring-its-best-seller-lists?auto_login_attempted=true

Big 5 ebooks get the handicap spot on the bestseller list

So, it begs the question ... how many Indies are actually selling at list status or very, very close--without the publishing industry even being aware of it?

My message today is this: Pub industry speakers and proselytizers, please pull your heads out of you-know-where and start looking at the data that is right in front of your eyes. Start talking some real numbers, PLEASE. Stop spoon-feeding the BS line that ebook growth is flat.

Do you really need an Agent? What is the value of an Agent? #Pubtalk #ASMSG

Literary agents ~ once upon a time they ruled the world.
Now ... not so much.

Syndicated from: http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/authors-views-on-the-value-of-agents/

Authors’ Views on the Value of Agents

Categories: Expert Publishing Blog | Tags: Agents, Authors
May 1, 2014 | Dana Beth Weinberg | 0

   

 

 

Do I need an agent?

The longstanding advice to new writers was that if they had any hope of a successful career in publishing, they absolutely needed an agent. Myriad books and blogs have been devoted to the topics of how to pitch agents and how to find the right agent. Unfortunately for most authors, winning an agent is easier said than done, and rejection is the rule rather than the exception. With the growth of indie publishing and of presses that will consider unagented work, entrepreneurial authors are starting to ask how relevant agents are in today’s publishing world.

Are agents worth their fifteen percent? The 2014 Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest Survey asked more than 2,800 published authors (those in the sample who had started, completed, or published a manuscript) their opinions on various ways that agents help authors. While the survey is a voluntary sample and may not be representative of the population of authors, the responses reported here reflect the opinions of a large number of authors on different publishing paths: 1,563 indie-only authors, 674 traditional-only authors, and 597 hybrid authors.

Related: What Advantages do Traditional Publishers Offer Authors

Overall, the published authors in the survey were quite positive in their estimates of what agents offered authors. Asked whether they strongly disagreed, disagreed, neither agreed nor disagreed, agreed, or strongly agreed with several statement about what agents do, the majority of authors agreed or strongly agreed with each of the statements presented with one exception. Authors were unsure whether agents were helpful to authors who are self-publishing, with 47.6% neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the statement.

The appraisals of the value of agents was indeed quite high, with over 80% of published authors agreeing that agents are worth their commissions. However, a minority of published authors in the sample, only 9.3% currently had an agent.

Authors who had only traditionally published were the most likely to have an agent currently, 16.1%, and authors who had only indie-published were the least likely, 1.6%. Hybrid authors, who are both traditionally published and self-published, were more likely than the other types of published authors to have had agents in the past but to have parted ways, 20.6%.

Given the rosy estimates of what agents can do for authors, one might expect the proportion of published authors seeking literary agents to be quite high. However, just over a third of unagented published authors, 37.7%, are actively seeking agents: 35.2% indie-only, 45.5% traditional-only, and 37.13% hybrid.

In total, 39% of the published authors in the sample have discarded the prevailing wisdom and opted out of the agent search, never having submitted their work to literary agents and not seeking one at the time. Of these, about two thirds, 67.5%, were indie-only authors.

In Part II of this series on agents, I will examine the contribution that having an agent may make to the income authors received from their most recently traditionally published and indie published books, respectively.

Related: What Advantages do Traditional Publishers Offer Authors

   

 

 

About Dana Beth Weinberg

Dana Beth Weinberg, received her doctorate from Harvard University and is Professor of Sociology at Queens College – CUNY, where she directs the MA Program in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research. Her research focuses on organizational behavior, work, and occupations. Inspired by her own personal experiences as a novelist, her current research examines the way that digitization is changing the book industry for readers, writers, and publishers. Find Dana at danabethweinberg.com or @DBWeinberg or https://www.facebook.com/danabethweinbergwriter

Digital Book World Freaks Out at Hugh Howey's Accusations! #Pubtalk #DigitalPublishing #ASMSG

Freaked out Publisher Face,
which just so happens to look like Jim Carrey in Liar Liar...

Hugh Howey, author of the wildly popular bestselling 'Wool' series, blasted the world with jaw-dropping statistics on ebook sales vs. print, and Indie/Self-Pub stats: 

Via Hugh's new website http://authorearnings.com/, he revealed surprising statistics that demonstrate Indie/Self-Publishing is a massively growing trend, gaining in sales and market-share, and that a portion of Indie/Self-pub authors have been making more money than their counterparts in 'traditional-legacy' publishing.

(To get a complete picture, please visit Author Earnings, or JA Konrath's phenomenal blog post outlining the whole deal)

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014_02_11_archive.html

Now, the problem, Digital Book World, Bowker, and whole bunch of 'Industry Professionals' have staked their reputations by a completely different set of numbers. If you believe them, print sales are actually 70-75% and the rest is ebooks and audio-books.  And, if you believe them, Indies/Self-pubs and Amazon publishing book sales are not really eating up over 50% of the marketplace (the pros have it as a much lower percentage).  

Hugh Howey's numbers and well-defended conclusions have wrought CHAOS in the establishment. Digital Book World is repeatedly blowing up email newsletters filled with non-stop defensive arguments from Mike Shatzkin and Dana Beth Weinberg trying their damnedest to bring Hugh's data into question. 

Hmmm...The lady doth protest too much.

(check out Konrath as he blasts the 'industry professionals')

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/02/indies-eat-publishers-lunch-semi.html

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014_02_14_archive.html


Email after email of denials and analysis of the analysis:

Setting the record straight, again, and again, and again...

Still trying hard to set the record straight....

In reading article after article of 'Industry Professionals' trying so hard to defend both their industry, and their sketchy data (skewed in their favor of course), a couple of things become clear through the quagmire of mud-flinging and accusations:

1)  Traditional Publishing does not yet understand that their business model is largely obsolete, and they are coasting on momentum, and the fallacy of belief that authors still need a publisher.

2)  Traditional Publishing has many proponents out in the media and industry. This myth that authors are better served by using a traditional publisher is still an entrenched ideal.  

But the foundation of this house of cards is starting to crumble, and the ugly truth has been exposed: 

We (Self-publishers) don't need you, Mr. Publisher. 

I don't need you, Mr. Publisher.

Why?  Because my books are sold worldwide, via Apple, Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Allromanceebooks.com, Smashwords, and even as an emagazine on Issuu.com.  

I am already making money publishing my books, and I only have three of my seven novels in paperback, and I don't even have a single audiobook. 99% of my promos are happening in social media, with very little paid promotion.  I run rebelmouse social media hubs. I run tribes on Triberr. I run several facebook pages, twitter profiles, and my fingers are pretty deep into Goodreads (haven't messed with Shelfari yet).

I am one of the many new publishers, both an author, and a publisher, and a social media promotional consultant.

I am making money in ebooks. 

I have never written a single query letter, not one. I have never downloaded a query letter format or bought a course on how to write query letters or attended seminars on how to query agents and finagle submissions to publishers.  

I have never bothered.

I, Travis Luedke, am part of a new breed of authors, who have never wanted or cared to have a publisher.  The only thing publishers can offer me is bookstore print placement, and some foreign rights (subrights).  I don't want a publisher in control of my editing. I don't want a publisher in control of my metadata. I don't want a publisher screwing up my blurbs and cover art, and sponging off my 60-70% royalties. 

I have seen authors struggling with their publishers, struggling with garbage cover art and having zero control over pricing, price promotions, giveaways, freebies, and yet they are still expected to do what I do in social media, to gather fans, to promote their writings, their blog, their books, and still they give up the lion's share of the sales royalties to the publisher. For what?  What value do publisher's bring to the table?

If authors must do all this work to connect with fans and sell their books out in social media, then what do they need a publisher for?

Obviously, Traditional Publishing is still the primary route for an author to get their books on the shelves of nationwide bookstores. Indies/Self-pubs are all waiting for the day that changes, we are biding our time for the moment a service provider offers a straightforward route into that final distribution point. 

That is what's called a vacuum in the marketplace. How long before a service provider comes along to fill that vacuum and blast open bookstores to Indie/Self-pubs?  

Amazon has offered to allow bookstores to sell Kindles and products, a wholesale/affiliate kind of deal.  Lightning Source has some limited access to bookstores for Indies with a certain amount of clout.

Okay, I was rambling, forgive me. 

The point is HUGH HOWEY, or more specifically, his numbers. 

Hugh's numbers and pie charts and line graphs and all that fun stuff is a classic case of data proving what I have learned by experience. These numbers are not wrong, they are a statistical confirmation of what I already knew, but never had the data (or time) to articulate.

:)

#Erotica #CensorshipSucks ~ BEWARE THE POWER OF THE LITERARY DARKNET ~ #Oct #ASMSG

Here's the latest headline in the world of disinformation, half truths, and sales pitches:

The Literary Darknet of Independent Publishing

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/the-literary-darknet-of-independent-publishing/

What is a DARKNET?  And what the hell does it have to do with erotica?  Well, that's like asking "what is a separatist?"  

Answer: Its a word used by those with an agenda, a dangerous sounding word to label things as BAD, EVIL, WICKED.

Now, the word of the day is DARKNET, reminiscent of wicked Darth Vader, who tells you he is your father, and you must join him in the literary DARKNET.   

You don't know the power of the DARKNET!

Digital Book World, and the Book Genome Project, has likened-compared-associated self-published erotic/romantic fiction to the nasty underground DARKNET of illicit internet activity operating through highly secretive DARKNET websites that governments routinely hunt down, shut down and prosecute.

How does this have anything to do with self-published erotic/romantic fiction on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, or Kobo?  

We are supposed to assume that somehow there's a connection.  

Even though there is absolutely no evidence that self-published fiction has any connection with illicit DARKNET websites.

That is only the first of several misconceptions created by this editorial-sensational sales pitch. 

The Book Genome Project (BGP) has purportedly analyzed gazillions of books across all genres in order to catalog content.  Why?  Because they want to sell their software-service to book retailers.  The wake of the tabloid clickbait erotica scare, started by THE KERNEL in the UK, is the perfect platform for BGP to take the podium and sell the world their badly needed services.

Here's BGP's horrifying statistics of self-published erotica: 

(This is a screen shot from the Digital Book World's blog post)

Beware the power of the piechart

The problem with these jaw-dropping, shocking statistics, there are no sales numbers.

HERE'S THE DISCLAIMER found towards the bottom, hidden beneath all the neon-colored pie charts: (emphasis added by me) 

"There are no sales numbers in this data. As with any long tail, it’s likely irrelevant how many books on a topic are available compared to how many people are reading them. After all, does it matter that there is really objectionable content in the long tail of the book market if no one ever sees or purchases it? As a percentage of sales volume, they could be virtually invisible."

THE DARKNET DOES NOT LIKE BEING INVISIBLE!

So, all this data, all these bright neon charts, all the worldwide media scare, all this worldwide book banning and ridiculous posturing, is for books that could be virtually invisible. Books that no one ever sees or purchases.

Thanks to sensationalist clickbait tabloids filled with misdirection and derogatory lies, ALL SELF-PUBLISHED EROTICA is now suspect, and a target for removal worldwide. I guess the DARKNET will be relegated to Young Adult fiction in the near future....