I’m rather annoyed with myself tonight. During the writing of what was supposed to be my feelings on e-books and NY books, I entertained the following thoughts: Oh geez, I can’t say that; this might offend somebody; ohmigod, did I just insult myself?; oh, that’s a trainwreck in the making.
Here at Casa Stacey, we’re gearing up for a Memorial Day trip along with the normal everyday crises, and I just don’t have time for a trainwreck. What I find annoying is that I knowingly and willingly censored myself rather than risk the kind of tempests we’ve been seeing lately. So after hours and hours of typing and second-guessing and deleting, only the core remains—
The three statements regarding e-publishing I’ve heard the most often:
E-publishing is a stepping stone to NY:
I’ve seen too many of my fellow authors step into juicy NY contracts boosted by their digital career to argue that point. But it can just as easily work against the e-pubbed author. It’s very easy to get caught up in keeping up—getting those releases out there, promo, etc. “I’ll work on that partial for NY as soon as my edits are done/I get a sub in for that summer antho/OMG, slots are closing for ’08?”
My advice to those thinking of e-publishing: Make sure placing your books with an e-publisher is part of your career plan and not just a desperate move to get your name on a book. Set aside 5% of your writing time for NY projects with an alarm clock if you have to, but don’t get stuck spinning your wheels.
E-pubbed authors laugh all the way to the bank:
You know, back when erotic romance e-books were a niche market, that was probably true. It still is for some, I’m sure. But for many, there’s a reason that “checks will be held until the account accumulates $25” bit is in contracts. In my personal opinion, e-pubbed authors laughing all the way to the bank became a cheerleading rally cry to defend against disrespect from some NY authors, and it’s misleading to many new authors.
My advice: Choose e-publishing because you want the freedom to write your stories your way in whatever word count suits those stories. Don’t do it so you can laugh all the way to the bank, because…well, it just ain’t that funny.
She wasn’t good enough for NY:
I’m sure a lot of people think that, even if it’s not always said publicly. Sometimes it’s true and sometimes it’s not. My first book was digitally released with Ellora’s Cave, and it had never been rejected by a NY house. I’m sure there are successful e-published authors who never even submitted a manuscript to NY before selling. But I’ve been on a lot of loops for a lot of years, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen “All the NY houses have rejected XYZ, so I’m looking into e-pubs. Any recommendations?” And, to be perfectly honest, I’ve seen some books published that are utter garbage. There was no way in hell the books should have been published. (On the flip side, some of my favorite books were e-published.)
My advice: If you’ve had a book soundly rejected by everybody not only on your “A” list, but on your “B” list, as well, don’t make a “C” list. Sure, you might be willing to find an e-publisher willing to slap a cover on it and offer it for sale, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Take a good hard look at your writing. Don’t ask your readers to settle for less than your best just because a publisher is willing to let you.
And…that’s it for now. I’m proud of my e-published books and—should I be so lucky as to get a NY contract—I plan to fight for those option clauses to allow me to continue writing for my current e-publishers indefinitely. But I don’t do it for any of the three reasons listed above, and I hope new writers considering e-publishing won’t either.
E-publishing is a world that could use a little more professional discussion and a lot less cheerleading and group attacks, in my opinion. This post is my homogenized and pasteurized attempt at that.
Excellent post!
by Bernita May 23rd, 2007 at 8:13 amAmen, Shannon.
You’ve done an excellent job of articulating some of the concerns I have about epublishing as well. I think we’d all benefit from more honesty, which is quite different than cruelty. You can be candid without being “mean” or “jealous”, which is quite often the retaliatory cry.
I did that when I signed with my agent and had it written into the contract that I can continue to write for Loose Id and Liquid Silver as I please. It never occurred to me that a NY publisher would care what else I wrote, as long as I am attentive to my deadlines with them. I need to check on this with Ace, given what’s going on with me right now.
by Ann(ie) May 23rd, 2007 at 9:41 amWise words, Shan. Especially the stepping stone part. Yes, it can help you…it can also hurt you, by creating the impression that you’re less professional, or by creating a poor track record. Debut authors are exciting to publishers and booksellers. That’s a factor to consider.
I’m proud of my epublished books. I’m pleased with my epublishing experience - the creative freedom, flexibility, needed income, and the opportunity to find my strengths as a writer. But I tell people not to go into it blind, to go into it with realistic expectations and to make sure they go into it for the right reasons.
And let’s face it, NY or epublishing, “I want to make a lot of money” is not a reason to publish. Anybody who is going into it for the money is very likely to be disappointed.
by Charlene Teglia May 23rd, 2007 at 11:03 amThe reason I considered an e-pub not too long ago is word count issues. Maybe I’m still too much of a newbie to know how to write a novel over 60k. In my last WIP it was like pulling teeth just to get to 50k and it’s a romantic susupense. Not many print-only publishers accept books with that element under 75k words. It was frustrating because it’s a good book and I felt adding words just to get to that word count would hurt my book.
I didn’t make the decision to submit to e-pubs lightly. I’ve heard the horror stories, I had my own bias thinking e-pubs were for people who couldn’t make it big time. My opinion has changed because just like there are crappy e-pubs, there are crappy print-only publishers.
by Melissa May 23rd, 2007 at 11:43 amGood post and good discussion. Per the “stepping stone” comment: I have had more than one NY editor tell me that they look toward epubs to see who’s up and coming, and I’ve heard from more than one NY publishing house that they’re pleased with the sales of authors they’ve signed from epubs. I also know several epubbed authors who were *invited* by NY publishers to submit to them. So epubs *can* be an excellent stepping stone (though as you point out, make it part of a solid career plan). The idea that NY editors will look down on an epublished author (especially one with an enthusiatic following) is outdated. The authors streaming from epubs to NY houses is to me a good sign that epubbing doesn’t hurt a career.
About money-making–it depends on the epub. and the subgenre. I lecture about this very topic (epubs vs. NY print), because I write for both and the birth and growth of epubs has been fascinating. To research for the lectures I asked epubbed authors to privately share their sales numbers with me (which I kept confidential), and sales varied greatly–some authors were making a killing, others not so much. Erotic romance seems to outsell other romance, and romance in genreal outsells other genres (but actually, not always). For myself, my sales at Ellora’s Cave (as Allyson James) have only increased since I started–every release so far has debuted higher than the last (knock on wood
)
Sorry to ramble, but this is such a great topic! I agree that the epub phenom needs to be evaluated objectively and professionally, hence my lectures, where I dissect both NY pubs and epubs and present the strengths and weaknesses of each.
by Jennifer Ashley May 23rd, 2007 at 12:40 pmExcellent post, Shannon. And I’m particularly glad to see the emphasis on not treating epublishing as somewhere to put one’s books that aren’t good enough for New York. I’ve never tried to submit to a NY romance house because as an m/m romance writer I’m writing content that they currently won’t accept no matter how good it is, and I also tend to write in a length range that’s difficult to sell to a print house. But I would never, ever use epubbing as a way to get out something that simply wasn’t well enough written, because it would hurt me in the long run. That bad book could put people off buying my books in future.
And the issue of not working on the manuscript for NY because you’re caught up on the conveyor belt… Yes, well, by coincidence I whined about that very thing in my own blog this morning. I need to do something about revising that science fiction manuscript and sending it out again. This is a useful piece of reinforcement.
by Jules Jones May 23rd, 2007 at 12:47 pmI debuted my writing career in short stories — talk about absolutely NO gross income from writing — my ink cartridges cost more than I made!
I tried writing a “novel-length” work and it was atrocious. But, I found that I could write a novella, 16-32K so far and e-publishing was a great niche for books of these size.
I’m working my way up to that 60K book. . .but I’ll do it when I’m ready and have learned the ropes.
I’m just glad that I can get my work out there to an audience in the interim!
by Ericka Scott May 23rd, 2007 at 12:48 pmSome subgenres have a place in the e-pubbed world when they don’t in NY print any more. The books might be great but where else are they going to live? Traditional regency is one. We’re starting to see those in e-pubs since they don’t have a NY home now. I would also say it’s a great place to find Harlequin-Silhouette category type books. When you only have one chance to submit that type of novel epubbing can be a great way to get out a book that didn’t suit one editor’s vision of a line. In that case the book may not have gone to your A+ choice but there is no A, B or C list for say, a Harlequin Intrigue or Special Edition-type book.
by Heather Hiestand May 23rd, 2007 at 12:55 pmI remember looking at my contract with TOR and hating the fact that I was signing over the ePub rights to a company that does not publish (at the time, haven’t checked recently) in eBook format. I seldom if ever buy print books anymore and haven’t for nearly five years. Just bought Brenda Joyce’s latest (never read her before) as an eBook. If it hadn’t been at MobiPocket? Probably still wouldn’t have read a Brenda Joyce. At some point the nature nazis are going to catch on and fire off a wave of eco-reading. That’s my dream anyway. Next book? Gonna be digital and that’s just all there is to it.
Question. I have several blind relatives. Has anyone heard of computer software that “reads” eBooks for the visually impaired. I just totally don’t want my 70 yo aunt reading my sex scenes out loud to my uncle.
by Cindy Cruciger May 23rd, 2007 at 5:21 pmCindy, you can have your computer read an ebook aloud. It’s one of the coolest features of ebooks!
Much less expensive than audio books.
by Charlene Teglia May 23rd, 2007 at 5:51 pmCindy- Just a caution on the ebooks to audio. If the publisher doesn’t own audio rights, the speech feature will be disabled. It’s best to check first.
I loved this post. Very reasonable and sensible. I’d also like to point out that epubbing is vastly different now than just a year ago and contracts are NOT as favorable to authors. It’s not so easy now to build an audience or to have frequent releases. This directly effects an author’s income and ability to build momentum. A flood of authors have been submitting to ehouses for reasons Shannon mentioned and supply is outweighing demand with the usual shift in power sometimes being reflected in the contract. I rambled about this a few days ago on Dear Author, but the reality is that authors need to be a lot more cautious than they used to be when approaching an epub contract and serioulsy need to look at the grant of rights, the term of contract, and the reasons for the rights requested, the expected pub date of their book, etc. They also have to do their research and be a lot more focused on how a house works now rather than how it worked a year or two ago.
by Sarah McCarty May 23rd, 2007 at 7:02 pmI thought this was a really helpful summary of some of the chatter on the wires, Shannon. I particularly like the advice that if you do want to try to write for NY, it’s essential to budget your time so you can actually move in that direction.
It seems that a lot of recent posts have been highlighting some real differences between the business models, trials and tribulations, and benefits and pitfalls of both “NY” publishing and epublishing/small press print publishing. Much more helpful discussion than the recent gutter garbage.
You gave us a helpful reminder to brush off the old business plan, or to write a new one, in my case.
by Ciar Cullen May 23rd, 2007 at 7:14 pmShannon, Like you, I’d never submitted to N.Y., when I sold my first e-book. That was a purposeful move on my part. I didn’t know enough about New York publishing to feel comfortable tackling it. Still don’t. *g*
by Jordan May 23rd, 2007 at 7:26 pmI’ve seen this on a lot of e-pubbed authors sites EPIC. Does that mean the publisher is up to par?
by Melissa May 23rd, 2007 at 7:34 pm[...] 1. Shannon Stacey gives us a little e-pubbing advice on RTB. [...]
by Thursday Thirteen: Things I forgot to link to yesterday « miladyinsanity May 23rd, 2007 at 8:59 pm[...] A little e-pubbing advice [...]
by The Good, The Bad and The Unread » Shannon gives a lil advice… May 23rd, 2007 at 9:24 pmI’ve had to deal with people who assume that, because I’m epubbed, that I “settled” for my publisher. Like most of the others here, the books I’ve published had never seen the inside of an NY editor’s office. It’s been a good experience for me and, though I’m working towards NY as well, I’m in no hurry to not write for my publisher, either.
Terrific post!
by Kim May 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 pmMelissa, one of my favorite things about epublishing is the word count—both of my romantic suspenses are 35-40k, which (I think, anyway) is the word count that worked best for them. So it sounds like a damn good reason to look into epubbing to me.
Jennifer, your lecture sounds awesome! Any plans for a virtual session? *bats eyelashes*
Ericka, that’s a great way to keep your name out there while working toward a full-length novel. (My natural length seems to be 35k, unfortunately.)
It’s funny you should say that, because the only one of my ebooks to be rejected by a NY house was written for a Silhouette line. Though the editor liked it, it didn’t fit the line well enough and the senior editor shot it down. So I’d definitely have to agree with you on that point.
If I understand your question, I think that means the author is a member of EPIC (Electronically Published Internet Connection)—an organization for e-pubbed authors. As far as I know, it wouldn’t speak to the publisher’s credentials at all.
Thanks everybody, for the conversation today. It was nice to read calm, rational comments about epubbing/NY.
by Shannon Stacey May 23rd, 2007 at 10:57 pmShan, that is about the best and most good, solid sense post on e-pubbing I’ve ever seen.
Make sure placing your books with an e-publisher is part of your career plan and not just a desperate move to get your name on a book.
Absolutely. For me, it wasn’t part of my career plan, but oh, I was desperate. But I restrained myself and said a polite no thanks to an e-pubbing contract.
A few months later, I got the contract I was looking for. Life’s good.
by Anna Louise Lucia May 24th, 2007 at 4:14 amThis has been going around lately and I think this post is a definite plus. As a writer myself I have submitted to NY once before. I was a real greenhorn though but that just made my desire to get publish all the more important. I have learned a great deal along the way.
I write short stories and novella length work, nothing that I have seen NY houses willing to take yet that is what has been so great about the epub industry. There are both wonderful writers and horrible writers in both epub and print so it’s not just one industry or the other.
I made the choice to go epub while I work on another for a NY house.
Great post and thanks for sharing
by Terra Kent May 24th, 2007 at 9:26 am[...] There were a couple of non-inflammatory, yet still interesting, posts about e-publishing. Shannon Stacey and Tawny Taylor weigh in. [...]
by Thursday links « Jorrie Spencer May 24th, 2007 at 10:13 amGreat post, Shan. I agree with everything you’ve said. After 2 1/2 years of being e-pubbed, things have definitely changed. Some for the good and some not - I too have read books that should not have been published, and read others that made me bawl like a baby they were so damn good. I think it’s a crap shoot with print books too - I hate the ones that make me hurl them at the wall.
by Beth Williamson May 24th, 2007 at 3:13 pmJust because I am e-pubbed does not mean I’m not good enough for NY, nor does it mean I am less than an author because of it. I will eventually write full-time for both NY and epublishers - that’s the plan anyway. It’s been a slow roll - exactly as it should be. I’ve learned a ton about publishing, promotion, what to do and not to do.
Great advice about contracts, mon ami. Always read then re-read before signing.
Angela James, an editor with Samhain, has blogged about this recently as well over at Magical Musings.
by Michelle May 27th, 2007 at 4:34 am