PRETTY DEAD ~ What Happens When Publishers Tell Authors What to Write #Oct #ASMSG

The dollar store is now a wonderful place to find a small selection of hardcover books normally valued at $20+. Bookstores are going out of business, and its liquidation time.  So, I find cool deals there once in a while, and come out with an armload of hardbacks for less than the $20 it would have cost for a single novel.  

I recently picked up PRETTY DEAD by Francesca Lia Block:

I absolutely love the cover art. Very eye-catching, very unique.  It gave me a sense of sexy, youthful decadence and vampires, kinda snarky... 

Maybe that's just my own perverse nature wishing the book would have been something like that.

But, PRETTY DEAD is a Young Adult vampire novel, by an author who writes with an ADULT literary fiction style.  So, why would an author like this attempt to give the world a whiny, apologizing-for-being-evil, self-depreciating vampire and another vampire who is basically a needy-obsessive Peeping Tom stalker?  

Yep, those are the two main characters, and neither of them act or think like teens (even though Charlotte is technically 16-17 in physical appearance).

Well, adult literary fiction is all about existentialist stuff, contemplating the folly and bittersweet truths of the human condition.

But why write Young Adult in this style?  Do teens really care about existentialist crap?  I'm 40, and I still don't care.

The only reason that comes to mind, Francesca's publisher and perhaps even her agent said something like, "Hey, the latest trend is YA vampire fiction. So that's what you should write."

I am not one to bash authors, and Francesca has a smooth and emotionally evocative writing style, subtly drawing us into her characters.  The main character Charlotte, is a hundred something year old vampire teenage girl, and none too happy about the condition. We felt the girl's plight. We felt her lost life, her lost humanity. And towards the end, as she begins to regain that life spark, she transforms more and more into a young woman, rather than the tired, jaded old bitch in a teenage body.

Francesca can write, very well (she teaches workshops on writing).  But she is not a YA author, not in this book anyway.  This book was not about teens.  It did not address teenage issues or lifestyle.  No issues with school, parents, homework, grades, social pressures, dating, or any of the gazillion things that plague teenagers today or even teens in a dystopian/fantasy/horror setting.

This is adult literary fiction pigeon-holed into the YA teen vampire genre by a publisher who is forcing their author to write something to meet a trend.

This is what happens when publishers tell authors what to write.

Will My Publisher Let Me Self Publish Too?

Prepare for a rant:

Hello, its me again, drinking coffee, reading my morning emails.  And look what new gem of wisdom I found, an article from Rachelle Gardner, an Agent who "partners with authors to bring worthwhile books to publication."  Rachelle asks the burning question:

 Will My Publisher Let Me Self Publish Too?

Rachelle very eloquently expresses the issues traditional publishers (TPs) have in allowing authors to self-publish simultaneously along with their traditional publishing business/contract.  She's very succinct in making all these important points for consideration.  Only an agent who caters to TPs and makes a living siphoning off an author's revenues would have the audacity to come out and say this publicly.

You see, Agents and TPs don't necessarily like the idea of their contracted authors going hybrid, and experimenting with self-publishing. Go figure.

Here's the list of issues Rachelle has with her contracted authors attempting to self-publish:

1. Branding issues.  TPs don't want your self-published works to mess up the author and/or series brand they have painstakingly created.  But it is your name, your novels, and your series that's been branded--right? Not. TP's probably have some fine print somewhere that you didn't even know you signed, that gives them some slimy toehold over your own name as BRAND. And who are you to go out in social media and use your own name without permission?  Silly author.

2. Quality issues.  TPs spend so much time, money and effort creating quality literature.  All those poor unguided fools in self-publishing could never produce the same quality without them. And of course, your inferior quality self-published works might adversely affect your good name and reputation and BRAND, which they perceive to own.

3. Time issues. TPs want your time commitment.  They want you to work for them.  Not for yourself.  Silly author, you thought you owned your own time!  They have your name, your BRAND, they control your quality, and your time.  Silly authors shouldn't be using their precious time to self-publish.

4. Promotional issues. TPs "don’t want your promotional efforts on your self-published books to eclipse their promotions on your contracted books. If they allow you to self-publish, they may lose their right to set boundaries on what you’re allowed to do promotionally, and this can be disastrous."

Oh the horror of it all! Heaven forbid you should compete promotionally with your contracted books, that's not fair.  You might outsell them.  You might make more money selling your self-published books than they pay you from your contracted books.

You might learn how to effectively promote and publish and sell your own books.  And then what would you need them for?

This entire article is sickening. 

Its about an agent who is losing books from contracted authors who are starting to realize they may not need to sign anymore of those shitty contracts with Traditional Publishers in order to publish their books.  Obviously, some of Rachelle's authors are contemplating self-publishing.  Better do your best to talk them out of it Rachelle, either that or start looking for ways to help them self-publish.

Maybe you could find a way to help your authors maintain quality.  Maybe you could find a way to help your authors publish, promote, and sell their self-published works.  But there wouldn't be any money in that.  OOPS.

NOTE: I found this article, through Joanna Penn, who blogged about it, and sent out emails to all her subscribers (me too):

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/05/09/permission/

Joanna Penn is a wonderful woman who has successfully navigated the labyrinth of self-publishing and has published a wonderful series of novels.  She regularly blogs on the publishing business, and ways and means of self-publishing successfully.

So, lets have it.  Comments, complaints, rants, hate mail, nods of agreement.  What do you have to say about this?

The new publishing business model: Agents preying on self-published authors

Prepare for a rant.

As I sit here drinking coffee, catching up with my new twitter followers, and reading emails, my morning newsletter from Digital Book World came in.  There's the usual chatter on the publishing industry about ebook and ereader sales activity during the holidays, gains and losses and all that crap.  What caught my eye was an article about publishing agents,

Agents Unwilling to Adapt Won't Last.

I thought that looked pretty interesting, so I read the article.  I haven't read anything in the past few months that made me so instantly furious, soooo fuming pissed off MAD.  I had to sit down and write this blog post.

The article is an interview with Jane Dystel of Dystel and Goderich Literary Management.  Jane starts off with her credentials.  She represented Obama when he wrote "Dreams from my father", before he was President.  That's some serious Klout goin' on there.  I'll bet she's got one hell of a Klout score.  Despite all that overwhelming Klout, the sheer audacity of her business model is staggering.

She isn't even a publisher, but she helps self-published authors, charging a mere %15 of their sales.  She will help them find editors-on their dime, find cover artists-on their dime, and help them upload their ebooks to all the retailers (a very harrowing experience of about 20 mouse clicks).  What a wonderful service, for only %15 royalty on someone else's hard work.

She goes on to admit she wishes traditionally published authors received more than 25% royalty of net sales, she thinks 50% of net sales is much more fair.  Us authors should get at least 50% of net sales royalties.  How kind and considerate, how very progressive.

I get 70% of GROSS sales on Amazon and between 60-80% of GROSS sales at other retailers.

Jane Dystel admits that the challenge Agents face is to convince self-published authors, "that we can help them do better than they are doing for themselves ... many of these self-published authors are doing phenomenally well."

You're damn straight that's a challenge.

The gist of the entire article is this:  Our Agency skims through the self-published authors to see who's a bestseller and then attempts to convince them that somehow or other, they need us.

NOT HAPPENING.  

If I hit anywhere near a bestseller status with my ebook, that's saying a lot: 
1.  I already know how to write a good book. 
2.  I already have at least one editor or more.
3.  I already know how to hire a cover artist, and help work out the design specifics of the cover I want.
4.  I already know how to hire an ebook conversion formatter, or do the formatting myself. 
5.  I already know how to upload my finished ebook to all the retailers.
6.  I already know how to launch my novel through social media and blogs.
7.  I already know how to make the most of ebook retailer's promotional mechanisms, like free offerings, discounts, giveaways, and coupons. 
8.  I already know how to sell myself as an author brand, and my novels as a part of that brand.

If I hit anywhere near a bestseller listing with any of my ebooks, why the hell would I need an Agent?

Jane Dystel looks a lot like a predator to me.  A predator preying on the dreams and aspirations of self-published authors who still feel the sting of not having "made it" in the realm of traditional publishing.  She looks like an Agent who's scrambling to figure out how to convince people like me that there's any need at all for her antiquated, obsolete business model.

If I hit anywhere near a bestseller list with my ebook, you better have a seven figure offer on the table and a movie deal before you even think about trying to talk me out of my successful self-publishing business model.

I have never written a query letter.  I never will.  Its a waste of time.  Jane Dystel says she has represented JA Konrath and John Locke early in their self-published careers.  Here's JA Konrath's words from a year ago:

"Now, writers are much better served learning how to upload their work to Kindle and write a product description than learning how to write a query letter or do a successful book signing."

As I catch up on a ton of social media connections for the morning, start writing another interview series for erotica authors, and begin editing my next two novels for release in the next two months, I wonder how much Agents can afford to adapt?  How much room is there in today's world of self-publishing for an Agent to survive?  NOT MUCH.

This is a time of great change in the world of publishing.  The power is shifting to the authors, specifically the authors who learn the ins and outs of self-publishing.  I strongly suggest people abandon obsolete business models and embrace that power, take it in full measure and use it to the best of your ability.

Until next time,

Travis Luedke