C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

02/24/2011 • 5:34 AM 4

Writers: Two mavericks to follow (plus a surprising original)

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Are you indie? Are you non-indie but want to increase your awareness of what goes on behind the scenes in the publishing industry? Here are two blogs to follow:

Dean Wesley Smith takes the publishing industry’s engine apart, looks through all the pipes and valves and gives you the goods on what you need to know.

And you need to know what Kristine Kathryn Rusch has to say about making your way as a writer.

BONUS:

There is a guy who got into blogging early. You know him. You’ve seen him. He’s cooler than you thought. And he’s showing others they can self-publish, too.

Click here to find out who I’m talking about.

Writers: Self-publishing links (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers Top Ten: Why blogging about publishing is important (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: Time for some controversy (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers : How “hands-on” do you want your agent to be? (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, blogs & blogging, Books, DIY, ebooks, links, publishing, Rant, rules of writing, self-publishing, Useful writing links, web reviews, Writers, writing tips, Blog, Dean Wesley Smith, helpful writing links, Publish, Publishing and Printing, publishing industry, solving publishing problems, writing

02/11/2011 • 3:52 PM 8

Writers: Self-publishing links

Patricia Benesh writes in the Huffington Post about the five questions you should ask yourself before going the self-publishing route.

At Self-publishing Central there’s a blog post about the journey to publication and finding peer support along the way.

Eoin Purcell‘s blog writes about the state of the traditional publishing industry and how it’s not all bad news. In fact, libraries are trending up.

And Jeff Bennington over at The Writing Bomb writes a compelling post evaluating Lightning Source versus Create Space. Do check that out!

Related Articles

Writers: Are you skeptical about self-publishing? (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers Top Ten: Why blogging about publishing is important (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: How to Publish on Smashwords (by Guest blogger Rebecca Senese) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: DIY vs traditional publishing (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, blogs & blogging, Books, DIY, ebooks, self-publishing, Useful writing links, web reviews, Writers, writing tips, Business, Create Space, Create Space versus Lightning Source, Do it yourself, E-book, Huffington Post, Lightning Source, Publish, publishing, Publishing and Printing, self-publishing, writer, writing

02/08/2011 • 1:11 AM 0

Book Distribution Company Bankruptcy

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One-hundred and twenty-five employees are out of a job at HB Fenn, a major Canadian book distributor. It’s cold in Toronto and those rents are killer. Best of luck to all those employees.

I’ve worked for a publisher as they began to collapse. I was working at Lester & Orpen Dennys just before they went under. It was okay for me. When I came in, I knew I was hired for a short-term job. I was one of the lucky ones in that I bounced on to another publishing job at Cannon Books. The people who stayed longer had to face looking for work in publishing just as everyone else at the company was looking for work. It must have been a terrible situation for some.

For those who missed the details: HB Fenn, declared bankruptcy late last week. Until recently they distributed more than 50,000 titles including MacMillan, Whitecap Books and American sci-fi heavyweight, Tor.

According to The National Post, this marks “the largest collapse of a Canadian publishing company since General Distribution Services/Stoddart Publishing went under in August 2002.”

Publishers have to try to get skids of books back but that may be very difficult while the company deals with paying off creditors. Authors will get it in the shorts as bookstores wait for cartons of books to arrive that never shall. This is a bad blow to Canadian book publishing, especially since, increasingly, publishers have less to offer but could still pride themselves on their bookstore access and distribution system.

HB Fenn once had controlling interest in the now-defunct Key Porter books, as well. Key Porter was once a major player in Canadian publishing.One company’s death would be enough of a bad sign. Two companies might be a bald symptom of the trend down we’ve been seeing.

NEXT POST: THE PROMISED BLOG-O-RAMA—ONE OF MANY TO COME—ABOUT THE WRITERS’ UNION OF CANADA SYMPOSIUM ON THE STATE OF PUBLISHING. (Yes, this post is a clue.)

Related Articles

HB Fenn initiates bankruptcy (thestar.com)
H.B. Fenn book distributor files for bankruptcy (cbc.ca)
Key Porter Books confirms it is suspending operations (theglobeandmail.com)
Publishing house Key Porter Books ceases operations: report (theglobeandmail.com)
Key Porter shuts down (thestar.com)
Could Authors Be Liable to Consumers If an eBookstore Dies? (gigaom.com)
Writers: So-called experts & the digital revolution (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: Books, publishing, book distribution, books, Business, HB Fenn, health of publishing industry, Key Porter Books, Lester & Orpen Dennys, Publish, Publishing and Printing, Toronto

01/27/2011 • 10:46 AM 1

Writers: So-called experts & the digital revolution

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I plan to attend a Writer’s Union of Canada publishing conference in a week. Industry experts will be talking about being a writer in the middle of publishing’s digital revolution. I’m really looking forward to attending, but I’m also prepared to take it all in with the cliched grain of salt.

At a previous publishing conference (different group, not Writer’s Union) I ran into publishers who were very resistant to e-books. Their opinions were so far off I have to wonder if they believed what they were saying. Some said the market shift to e-readers wouldn’t happen from five to ten years!

Meanwhile, I said e-readers would blow up on Christmas morning 2010 and soon got obnoxious and gloated about how right I was. E-reader sales did go crazy. E-book sales are climbing despite the industry’s growing pains.

This is bad news for bookstores. I bought my vast collection of books at bookstores, but no more. I use my library for some reading, but generally, I’m a buyer. I entered a brick and mortar bookstore for the first time since Christmas last week to buy reference books. The cost of paper books is such that I just can’t justify the cost of buying paper novels anymore. That’s what my e-reader is for.

Here’s the kicker: Sony obviously underestimated their own sales. They sold out of e-reader covers before Christmas and Sony won’t even receive new covers to ship until March.

The Writer’s Union conference is next weekend. Yes, I shall report what the experts have to say. I’m hoping this time it lines up with current reality.

A World Without Borders: One Author’s Fear (dailyfinance.com)
E-readers: I told you so (an indulgent post of self-congratulation) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Bookstores are disappearing. Time to sell my book collection. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: What really happens in book marketing meetings (Plus: What sells books) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
My Day at Digital Book World (smartbitchestrashybooks.com)
Publishing: Change or Die (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
E-Book Invasion to Eliminate Brick and Mortar Bookstores? (blogcritics.org)
The wide-spread destruction of UK bookstores, potential lessons (ireaderreview.com)
Writers: Why self-publishing sucks (and what you can do about it) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
What if we view the changes in Publishing as a revolution? (ireaderreview.com)
How long before this indie author takes over the #1 spot? (ireaderreview.com)

Filed under: Books, ebooks, self-publishing, Writing Conferences, Bookselling, bookstores, E-book, e-reader covers, publishing, Publishing and Printing, publishing industry knowledge, publishing predictions, Sony

01/25/2011 • 7:29 AM 0

VIDEO: When an agent asks for revisions

Related Articles

Writers : How “hands-on” do you want your agent to be? (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Accused “Scam” Literary Agent Sues Entire Internet [Books] (gawker.com)
The Insider’s Method of Finding a Literary Agent (write4kids.com)
Tips on Finding a Literary Agent (writinghood.com)
Literary Agents Open the Door to Self-Published Writers (blogs.forbes.com)

Filed under: agents, authors, Books, publishing, queries, Rejection, agent, Literary agent, manuscript evaluation, Publish, Publishing and Printing, revisions, traditional publishing, writer

11/18/2010 • 1:27 PM 0

The High Concept Book Becomes the High Concept Movie

The zombie rage rages on and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies caught the vampire-backlash-zombie-wave at just the right time.

It’s interesting to me how, when first introduced, a terrible idea and a brilliant one are often indistinguishable. Finding just the right editor or agent to recognize an opportunity wrapped in an unsolicited manuscript at just the right time? It can be an amazingly long and difficult process.

As I think back on many of the publishers I’ve worked for, I can guarantee that many of them would have looked at the manuscript for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and cringed. I can hear them say, “You’re not going to believe this! Look at the kind of tripe we get in the slush pile!”

Of course, it’s a subjective business, but it is a business. Someone spotted opportunity in this book and now they’re making a boatload of money off of it. If you’ve a bit snooty, you may still look askance at books like this, but reading is a wide spectrum. There’s lots to read and fortunately, you get to choose.

Slush Pile Short Story

I once knew a publisher who, on our first meeting, wanted to impress upon me that his publishing house only printed “important” books. And he did. There were some literary gems on the list.

But the publisher had a narrow spectrum of books he was interested in. I asked several times if it would kill him to publish a popular cookbook and make some real money. I learned instead that he wanted to publish one kind of book. It had to be Canadian literature (and all that reputation entails) so he would have a list that wouldn’t make him blush at his next cocktail party in Rosedale.

High standards are laudable, but decreeing what the market should read while remaining deaf to what people do read is a formula for failure.

The moral of the story is this:

That hockey book that bores you, the vapid Sarah Palin book you loathe and that gardening book that’s a staple for three generations? Those sell. Slush pile submissions that publisher sneered at would have financed all those “important” books he’s not publishing anymore. He’s long since out of the business and many important books have gone unpublished for that sad loss.

I love important books. But, like most people, I like varied tastes to entertain my palate.

Mike White To Officially Direct ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ (slashfilm.com)
The Wait (rejecter.blogspot.com)
Publishers, Authors, Agents, Retailers – One in the Same? (issues-in-publishing.blogspot.com)
Internet, Terrorists, Lawyers Kill Slush Pile [Rip] (gawker.com)
Indie publisher Quirk Books finds zombie success (ctv.ca)
Rumor: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Totally Dead (escapistmagazine.com)
‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’: Who should direct? (popwatch.ew.com)
Mashing up children’s books with monsters (guardian.co.uk)
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES Film is Falling Apart (geektyrant.com)

Filed under: Books, publishing, Useful writing links, book, Business, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, publishing, Publishing and Printing, Sarah Palin, Slush pile

11/17/2010 • 8:18 PM 6

Are you closer to publishing your own books yet?

A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, wh...

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Ex-agent Nathan Bransford wrote a nice piece on his blog entitled Why I’m Still Optimistic about the Future of Books. That headline caught my attention because, viscerally, my reaction was, “Still?!” His post goes deeper than that, but what I noticed first was my own urge to chuckle.

No, I’m not predicting the death of books. My view is more nuanced than that. I think paper books will be published 100 years from now (assuming we aren’t all killed by nukes, bioweapons, supergerms, climate catastrophe or armies of the undead) but in small numbers and as a premium item.

Early this summer I attended a writers’ conference in which I saw the e-book future laid out. Many of the publishers and writers I met at the Canadian Authors Association conference in Victoria were already on board the train to the future. I met my first person there who doesn’t buy paper books anymore, for instance. Her bookshelves grow no heavier because her reading is now exclusively electronic.

When I came back, I shared that worldview with everyone I knew. I encountered resistance, incredulity and resignation. Personally, I’m excited about the DIY opportunities ahead of us. We still need writers and those writers still need editors. Publishers and agents are becoming optional. For some authors—especially if they already have an audience—publishers are in their rearview mirrors.

Where are you on this issue now? Has your opinion changed in the last year? Do you see e-books as another expression of rage and frustration by the talentless hacks rightly trapped in the slush pile? Or are e-books a way for independent authors to steer their own course to larger percentages and greater control of their books?

If you’re an independent writer, here’s a link to a comparison of self-publishing services you definitely need to consider:

Self-Publishing Company Comparison: Amazon CreateSpace, Lulu or Lightning Source? : Blogthority‏

If you’re a traditional publisher or are monogamous about the Gutenberg press, here’s an article about how e-books might be integrated tree book marketing:

E-books need print books, IPG hears | theBookseller.com‏

Please let me know your thoughts.

I’m staring at my comment box,

quivering in anticipation.

Christian Self Publishing Association Launched to Serve Authors and Raise the Quality of Self-Published Books (prweb.com)
An E-Book Bonanza: 12 Saramago Novels (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)
Bloomsbury USA Selects RoyaltyShare for eBook Sales Management (prweb.com)
Digital publishing about economics, Forrester analyst James McQuivey says (teleread.com)
Discoverability: “Metadata Really Matters for eBooks” (lib.uiowa.edu)
Lulu.com Adds Big Options for Creators this Holiday (prnewswire.com)
The Felicities of New Publishing (or Why Traditional Publishers May Someday Die) (seedlingsinstone.blogspot.com)
All About eBooks Symposium: Friday, November 12th in San Francisco (prnewswire.com)
Lightning Source expands POD to Australia (teleread.com)
Self-Publishing Expo: Panel, “Flying Solo” (teleread.com)

Filed under: Books, publishing, self-publishing, Useful writing links, web reviews, book, E-book, Independent Publishers Group, Lulu, Nathan Bransford, publishing, Publishing and Printing, self-publishing

11/09/2010 • 10:35 AM 1

#Publishing Links: Bad News for Publishers

I attended a writers’ conference where a keynote speaker criticized a former publisher. The publisher was small, and Canadian, and there had been a dispute over the author’s electronic rights (though the publisher wasn’t selling any digital versions of the author’s work anyway.) That’s when things got ugly. “Small publishers aren’t interested in selling books. They make their money with government grants.” He walked back from that statement and mentioned several small presses he revered, but he had reason for his venom. He bought the rights back at great expense so he could use them properly.

It is true that if you’re a small Canadian publisher, you’re eligible for grants. The big publishers have some margin for error in their budgets. The mid-sized publishers are walking a financial tightrope. That’s the general point of a recent Globe & Mail article on the dangers waters publishers sail. It’s worth reading when you’re trying to choose whom you should send your precious manuscript.

In other news, if you check yesterday’s comments, you’ll see Sue Kenney, author of My Camino, stopped by for a comment about how she wrote fast to fit her publisher’s schedule. (Thanks for commenting , Sue! Check out her site and her wonderful story at www.suekenney.ca.) I mentioned in my reply how many traditional publishers are losing book sales because they don’t have the electronic version available and people are looking for those titles. When you don’t find the titles you want, you buy a book that is available for your iPad.

How do I know this? Because I’ve visited this link: Lost Book Sales | Every day an author and a publisher lose a sale. These are the stories why.‏ Publishers? If you haven’t embarked on your e-book program yet, you don’t have much time left to make the switch before you are irrelevant. (Yes, JK Rowling is the exception. She’s refusing to allow Harry Potter to go digital. Good for her. However, her amazing success is atypical in the industry and shouldn’t be the basis for sales decisions about the rest of the market.)

As if that weren’t enough to make a publisher knock out a window and crawl out on a ledge, I ran across this post on the wave of piracy that’s coming to my favorite industry: Your time is up, publishers. Book piracy is about to arrive on a massive scale – Telegraph Blogs – The BFF‏.

Don’t worry though, friends!

This isn’t a wake.

It’s just a call to make the choice to adapt.

It’s a hope the industry is willing to change.

Happy Tuesday! I’m off to NanoWriMo.