Blog Chain: The Brave New Publishing World

So here I am, at work at 7 PM, the first shift in my new schedule, the DuPont schedule, which is a behemoth you can read more about, here.

Anyway, partly because of this new schedule, and partly because I just suck at organization, I missed the first post I was supposed to put up yesterday for this new blog chain I've joined. The topic for today, in fact for the entire chain, is this:

Have the recent changes in the publishing industry affected your writing plans/career? If so, how?

Before I get to answering that, I want to explain how the blog chain works, and introduce you to the other members of the group. It works by one member picking a topic, and then writing about it on the first day. What makes it a chain is that each subsequent blogger then covers the same topic, also linking to both the previous, and the next blog.

I screwed all that up, so I'm going to link to all the blogs.

First, let me introduce you to the other new members of the chain, most of whom you may already know. Amparo, Tere, PK, Katrina, and Jon. The already existing members of the chain, some of whom I already knew, but others whom I just met, are: Christine, Sarah, Michelle M., Shaun, Cole, Kate, Sandra, Eric, Margie, Michelle H., and Abby.

Now I realize that's a lot of blogs, but you don't have to read them all right now. Just go follow them, and I promise you won't be disappointed. For now just read the post that came before mine, Sandra's, and then go read the one that comes tomorrow (which by the way is actually today since I screwed all this up), Kate's.

Now that we've gotten all that housekeeping out of the way, let's get down to the topic.

My opinion, and please take this with a grain of salt as I am a completely amateur and unpublished writer, is that it is both an exciting and a terrifying time to be (or be attempting to be) in the publishing industry. I say that in all my comments whenever the topic comes up, and I mean it.

I used to own a small, independent record label in Minneapolis. My partner had all the musical talent, and I (supposedly) had all the business acumen. We didn't get rich, but we had a lot of fun.

You can't compare the music industry to publishing with a one to one correlation, because they're very different, but I can make an analogy that I hope will make my opinion about the state of publishing more clear.

When a record gets put out (for us it was usually 12 inch singles, which is actually just 2 songs, an A side, and a B side, and then possibly an instrumental and an acapella version of each) the record label generally recoups all costs before any artists get paid, which can be quite substantial depending on the scope and quality of the production. In general, independently produced music allows for better art to get from the artist to the fan (or listener) for a lower cost, and with more of the fair share of profits actually making it into the artist's hand (or bank account).

It seems to me that the same will eventually be true of publishing, but I don't think we're there yet, not even close. So far, self and e-publishing (or even vanity, which is NOT the same thing) has always had a very negative stigma attached to it. In the sense that self-published books are of lower quality, because the author simply got impatient about trying to get published traditionally. I can't personally tell you whether or not that was ever true, because I haven't read a lot of self-published books, but I can tell you the stigma was there.

I think all of that's changing, and fast. My friend PJ Hoover has already shown that you can write a great book, one good enough to get an agent, and then still choose to publish it outside of the traditional channels. I haven't read the whole thing, yet, but I've read an excerpt of Solstice, and I can tell you that PJ is a damn fine writer.

For my own career, I still intend to get published traditionally, at least once, if only to prove that I can do it. After that, who knows? All I really care about is telling great stories and having them reach as many readers who will love them as much as I do, as possible.

I could go on, but I've probably already said too much. Please bear with me as I try to wrap my head around this crazy thing that is my life.

A Scary Good Book, by Anita Laydon Miller

I promise to get to more about my vacation soon, but today I have to announce that my friend Anita has released her second novel.

This one is a middle grade mystery titled A SCARY GOOD BOOK. Here is the official description:

Twelve-year-old Hannah Stone tells everyone she’s “okay,” but that’s a total lie. Two years ago her dad was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The detective in charge of the case never found the driver, but he somehow managed to get Hannah’s mom to fall in love with him. The jerk. And speaking of love, Hannah’s developed a major crush on Ollie Ortega—he’s her best friend and the only one she can talk to—a crush on Ollie is so not a good idea.

Also not a good idea? Searching for a missing person with no help from the police. But that’s exactly what Hannah does when she finds messages in library books—underlined words that point her in the direction of someone who needs her.

And, suddenly, Hannah’s even further from okay. She breaks into a library, gets caught in a kidnapper’s web, and is stalked by her dad’s killer, all in an effort to save a life…but can she save herself, too?

I haven't personally read it yet (it's just being released today), but I know Anita well enough to know that this is certainly a fun kids' ebook. And at $0.99 you absolutely cannot beat the price.

You can find the Kindle edition for sale on Amazon, here, but if you're not sure whether this might be for you, I suggest you at least visit both of Anita's great blogs, and get to know her a little better:

Anita Laydon Miller's blog.
Anita Laydon Miller's Middle Grade blog.

Thanks!

Kindle versus Nook

So my family went shopping yesterday, and picked me up an early father's day present. They bought me a Nook Color, Wi-Fi, 8GB. It's quite a gift. We don't usually do big ticket items like this in our family, especially not for something as minor as father's day, but both Kelly and Madison will be out of town on the actual day, so there may be some guilt involved.

It's truly a kingly gift. It's a pretty neat device.

But, that being said, I've got to spark a debate here on the old blog. I had actually been thinking of buying myself a Kindle recently. I want the el-cheapo, B&W, Wi-Fi only version. It's very reasonably priced now.

There are arguments for and against each device, and advantages to both, but let me tell you why I was leaning toward the Kindle before the Nook showed up in my house yesterday.

First things first, Amazon is a Seattle company (I'm from Seattle). I've had friends work there, and they all say it's a good company. I'm not necessarily for some of the very near monopolies they've developed lately, but it's still a company I do business with all the time, and I've never been unhappy with a transaction. But loyalty really isn't the issue here. Barnes and Noble is a decent company too, as far as I know. I don't know anyone who's worked there, but the employees seem happy enough for retail workers.

None of that really matters because it's all about the device. The Kindle is basically designed just for e-books. Even the high end worldwide 3G edition still just has the black and white e-ink technology for it's screen. That might sound like a drawback, but I would actually prefer reading an e-ink version of a book to reading on a back-lit LCD screen. I work in tech support and I stare at a back-lit LCD PC monitor ALL DAY LONG. I don't want to read books in a way that strains my eyes.

Another advantage that the Kindle seems to have is free e-book editions of books that are in the public domain. I like to try to read a classic or two each year. I have not fully researched this yet, but so far I have checked on A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, and Moby Dick, or the whale, by Herman Melville. Both books are available as free Kindle editions, but the Nook Books cost $0.99. That seems a little disingenuous to me. Who exactly is profiting off of these publicly owned works? There may be some kind of third party service that will convert free e-books into Nook Books, but why should I have to go through the extra effort when the Kindle editions are free and easy?

Yet another problem seems to be the availability of certain books. Just checking briefly last night I found several books that I am interested in that are available as Kindle editions, but so far are not available at all in the Nook Book store. Cassastar, by Alex J. Cavanaugh, is not available as a Nook Book. Twisted Velvet Chains, by Jessica Bell, is not available as a Nook Book. Ghost Medicine, by Andrew Smith ... actually that one is available, but for some reason you have to go onto the internet to find it, because it does not show up on the Nook when you shop directly from the device. In the Path of Falling Objects is available directly on the device. I imagine this has a lot to do with self-publishing, and the way that Amazon's system supports independent authors, but I would rather have the device that has the most access to the most books.

So, at this point you're probably thinking I hate the Nook my family bought me. I don't. It's actually pretty cool. The one nice thing that the Nook has that the Kindle doesn't is the internet, apps, and extras like the music player, and the ability to store any kind of file. Actually, I'll have to research that, I think the Kindle can store some documents. But the internet on the Nook is pretty nice. The screen is large enough that if you turn the device sideways you can use almost any website with relative ease. I tested Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and Le Blog. Updating anything that requires entering text is a little clunky, because often the fields show up very small, and the websites are not displaying in a special mobile format like they do on most smart phones.

All in all the extras of the Nook make it pretty attractive for the price, but there's one drawback. At the price point the Nook Color is selling at right now, it is basically trying to market itself into a position between the Kindle and the Apple iPad. The problem is that the Nook doesn't do everything the Kindle does, and the things it does do that Kindle can't, are things that are clearly outperformed by the iPad. Obviously you can't compare them directly, because of the difference in price, but my personal opinion is that if I want a full color device that reads e-books and does internet, I would prefer the larger screen, smoother interface, and reliability track record of Apple. Besides, you can get a used iPad original edition for about the same price as a Nook Color.

What do you guys think? Do you own a Nook? Do you own a Kindle? Do you own an iPad? Anyone ever switched from one to the other, or owned more than one of these devices?

I need to make a decision about whether I am going to return the Nook in favor of a Kindle, but I want to make sure I get all the information, and advice from friends, that I can, first. As I said, I haven't researched it all fully, and I was curious what all of you thought too.

Earthling Hero Blog Tour

Today I'm featuring the release of Earthling Hero, by Anita Laydon Miller. My friend Jonathon Arntson introduced me to her, so you should check out both their blogs.

Anita has decided to e-publish her novel, even after having an agent, and getting very close to selling her story to traditional publishers. I thought this was an incredibly interesting scenario, so I asked her to share with us what made her come to this decision.

Please, take it away, Anita:

I had it all—a great agent (Sara Megibow) at a great agency (Nelson Literary). Sara declared my book “very close” to being publishable, and editors were actually reading the thing. So why did I give it all up to e-publish? Lots of reasons, but here are a few:

1. I’ve read a scary number of real-life stories about authors who cleared the agent, publisher and editing hurdles only to have the publishing house close a few months before the book was to be published. That stinks. Contracts are tied up, tears are flowing, books are in limbo. I didn’t even want to THINK about that happening to me. It’s like worrying about a miscarriage the entire nine months of pregnancy. Where’s the joy in that?

While the industry figures out where it’s going to land, I want to put my book in the hands of readers. The fastest way for me to do that is through e-publishing.

2. I think e-publishing is where it’s at. I don’t know what sales are of Kindles, Nooks and the like (I imagine they’re in the gazillions), but I’ve got two e-readers at my house, and not long ago I swore I’d NEVER! read from one. About the same time I was saying that, my husband wasn’t reading ANYTHING other than a newspaper. Now I’d rather buy an e-book than a paper book. And my husband reads an e-book per week, just because he doesn’t have to drive anywhere to buy it.

But here’s the thing: my husband and I are adults (usually) and so are most of the people who own e-readers. The huge risk for me is e-publishing a MIDDLE GRADE novel. Do kids want e-books?

Well, I keep having to pry my e-reader out of the hands of my four children, and I consider those fingers as sticky little signs that, yes, kids do want e-books. And what a kid really wants, they usually get. NOTE TO MATT: Please do not let my children read this.

NOTED. Anita's kids: step away from the browser.

3. E-publishing gives me complete control of my book…creative and financial. For some people that’s daunting, but for me, it’s fun. If I succeed or fail [insert Frank Sinatra’s voice here, because I can’t sing] I DID IT MY WAAAY!

For me, success means having a lot of people read my book now. I’m not going to get rich on a $.99 children’s e-book. But my heart will be richer knowing that kids (and adults, too) read my friggin’ book. I didn’t have to put it in a figurative shoebox and shove it in a figurative drawer just because editors think aliens are currently not in style or some other silliness.

Success will largely depend on 1. Getting people to read the book. 2. People liking the book. 3. People spreading the news that they like the book. Did I mention EARTHLING HERO is only $.99 and is available through Smashwords and Amazon?

Anita Laydon Miller began daydreaming before she could write her name. Now she turns her daydreams into stories and writes them (and her name) just fine. Anita lives in Colorado with her husband and four children. She enjoys making homemade tortillas and running from bears.

I think Anita makes some incredibly valid points. Personally I don't much care about getting rich, but I do care A LOT about reaching readers. This is something to consider. Oh, and homemade tortillas sound delectable.

If you are interested in finding out more about Anita, or Earthling Hero, please visit these links:

Anita's Blog.
Earthling Hero at Smashwords.
Earthling Hero at Amazon.com.
Earthling Hero at Barnes & Noble.
Anita's Website.
Anita's Middle Grade Blog.

She will also be continuing on her blog tour for the next week and a half. Please visit all these stops along the way:

Friday 4/8 Elana Johnson
Monday 4/11 Darby Karchut
Wednesday 4/13 Kelly Polark
Friday 4/15 Heather Kelly
Monday 4/18 Carol Miller
Wednesday 4/20 Natalie Aguirre