My Experience with Amazon's Kindle Select Program

I just posted this at Jon Guenther's Ctrl+Alt+Pub "a multi-author blog dedicated to providing information about self-publishing and inspire authors seeking to publish their own works through non-traditional venues"...and decided to post it here as well.

A few weeks ago, when Amazon announced their new Kindle Select Program, I was not in favor of it. My reason for that was the exclusivity required to enroll your book/books. I had even posted at a blog that I would not be taking part in Amazon’s new program. The idea of giving books away as a promotional tool was not at all my reason for declining the opportunity. Over the years I’ve given many books away: mine, those of my late husband, Don Pendleton, and ours.

From the Amazon Kindle site: “ When you make your book exclusive to Kindle for at least 90 days, it will be part of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library for the same period and you will earn your share of a monthly fund when readers borrow your books from the library. You will also be able to promote your book as free for up to 5 days during these 90 days.” The monthly fund for December was $500,000, and for January it is $700,00. Sharing that amount of money should be enticing. I happen to be a Prime member of Amazon and have been for a number of years, and am now able to “borrow” many books free through the Lending Library.

I have over fifty books now published at Kindle, which includes more than a dozen of Don Pendleton’s books. A number of our books are also at Smashwords, and distributed to a number of ebook retailers, including for the Nook, Kobo, iPad.

But one of my books has been exclusive to Kindle, only because I had not gotten around to putting it elsewhere. I decided to give the program a try. On December 27 and 28, I gave my historical Civil War novel, Corn Silk Days: Iowa, 1862, away FREE. I was amazed!! Nearly 8,000 copies were downloaded. It was #1 on the Free Best Seller Lists, War Fiction: The # 2 book on that list was Tolstoy’s War and Peace! Other listings included, # 4 in Historical romance, # 4 in Historical Fiction; # 19 in Romance; # 77 in Fiction.

When the two-day promotion ended, it stayed fairly high on the Best Seller Lists, staying in the Top Ten of paid books under War Fiction. Today, it is listed as # 2 under Best Selling Historical War Novels in the Kindle Store. # 3 is War and Peace (a free edition), and War Horse is # 4. Obviously my sales and the Kindle Lending Library downloads are continuing.

I then added two additional books, one mystery, one nonfiction, to the Select Program. The results have not been quite as impressive, but my nonfiction, To Dance With Angels, went # 1 in Paid New Age Channeling, and # 1 in New Age Religion and Spirituality. Today, it remains in the Top Ten after a two-day promotion on January 1st.

So I’m happy! Sales have increased on many of my others books not in the program. I’d say this promotion may well be worth it.


~Linda

Pixels or Fonts; A Meeting of the Minds

In 2002, I wrote a letter in response to a local librarian who had put down the value of ebooks. A copy went to the librarian and was published in the local newspaper. I quote from it: “I have always believed it should be the goal (and desire) of librarians to encourage people to read. It should not matter what format the reader chooses. The author’s words are there to be shared—a meeting of the minds—whether in pixels or fonts.

I had also commented: “The popularity of e-books is growing, and unfolding technological advances will improve formats. Young children are becoming proficient in computer knowledge, and computers are becoming the norm for many of them. E-books will not fully replace paper books on library shelves, but will give millions of readers the opportunity, 24 hours a day, to download their choice of reading materials from home or work. A trip to the local library will not be necessary.

We’ve come a long way in nearly a decade!

Linda

Author Barry Eisler Turns Down Half Million to Self-Publish

At first glance some may think best-selling thriller author, Barry Eisler is nuts to walk away from a half million dollar publishing deal with one of the Big 6 NY publishers. But I don't think he is. I believe he's smart and visionary in his decision to self-publish ebooks.

Many new or midlist writers, as well as best-selling authors are now putting their books at Amazon Kindle, Smashwords (which distributes to a number of retailers in various ebook formats), and publishing print on demand through Amazon Creatspace for -0- or $39. What is nice about all of these, is the author sets the price on his or her book, and can change it at any time. It appears the books that are selling the large numbers, especially at Kindle, are priced from .99 cents to 4.99. But you never know. It all depends on what someone might want to read, fiction, nonfiction, and the many subjects and genres. Lots of choices.

If you are an author, new or old, thinking of e-publishing backlist books, or new manuscripts, but still unsure about taking the leap, read what Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath have to say in this discussion of ebooks. It is possible it may remove any resistance you have to the idea of self-publishing. (Be prepared to have a cup of coffee at your side before you start reading as it is a long discussion, but well worth the read.)

Also you may be interested in this previous blog I did on Barry Eisler some time ago, and this one.

~Linda

Ebook Sales Continue to Rise

According to The Association of American Publishers, the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry:

"March 17, 2010, New York, NY – E-books and downloadable audio books continue to grow in popularity according to the January 2011 sales report of the Association of American Publishers. Figures for the first month of the new year show that E-book net sales increased by 115.8% vs January 2010 (from $32.4 Million to $69.9M). Sales of Downloadable Audio Books also rose by 8.8% vs the previous year ($6.0M to $6.5M). As AAP reported last month http://tiny.cc/obolv in its December 2010 monthly report and full 2010 analysis, E-book sales have increased annually and significantly in all nine years of tracking the category."

I know for my ebooks sales over the last decade, there has been a nice increase, especially since Kindle came along, and now Smashwords, which has given me the opportunity to pulish more of my books as e-books.

I'm sure e-book sales will continue to go up and up. I would imagne the ability to download mp3 digital audio books will continue to increase audio book sales also.

~Linda

Creating a Fictional World

“So unleash your creative power, let it flow in all its beauty.

Yes, Novelist, you are in charge of your own bright world.”

~Don Pendleton, The Metaphysics of the Novel

A few years ago, my husband, Don Pendleton, wrote in his nonfiction book, The Metaphysics of the Novel, The Inner Workings of a Novel and a Novelist:

“One thing that every novel needs is credibility, and as a novelist you must never forget that. Your story must be plausible, meaningful, and entertaining.

“Before the final draft of any story is set to paper, you must have resolved all your story problems and structure problems. Then, and only then, can your characters have the freedom they need to carry the story, to handle their conflicts, and to finally reach resolution.

“As you review your manuscript, begin by studying your opening paragraph. Read it and re-read. If it sounds weak as you read it silently, and then out loud, rewrite it. Study it again. Polish it until it shines.

“If you discover you have "padded" your story with unnecessary dribble, or if you come upon a place where you wonder where the hell it is going, it is because you did not know where you were going. So get out the scalpel and start carving away. Do it delicately but deftly until you feel you are in command as god of your novel.

“Watch for the spots where you come across even a page or two of nothing. If nothing was happening, change it, make something happen.

“Make sure your dialogue is sharp, and real. If it is not, beef it up until you hear the voices singing. Be sure those characters talk like real people.

“Are you satisfied that you have properly dimensioned each character? If you have villains in your story make sure you have made them powerful and resourceful, not reduced to the idiot level. In real life, the bad guys are highly formidable and dangerous individuals. Real life is full of grim games played by grim people. So should your fictional world be, if that is the type of story you are presenting. Do not indulge in some juvenile misunderstanding of the forces that move and shake this world. Some people are dangerous, not because a gun is in their hand, but because something cold and deadly is in their hearts. So make sure you are presenting a credible world with the world of your novel.

“The paradox of good fiction is that the fictional world must seem more understandable and coherent to the reader than the world in which he lives daily. So to connect with the readers, the writer had better be in complete charge of the world he creates at the keyboard. Pointless defiance of real world logic is available all the time on television. Don't expose your readers to anything but a setting of characters in a logical cause and effect world.

“When you have edited your manuscript to a high polish, when you love every word you have placed there, set it aside for a few days. When you pick it up again, and you find you still love every word there, you are then ready, novelist, to present it to the world.

“But brace yourself. Your presentation may not be received with the open arms you expect and hope for. The days ahead can be filled with frustration and rejection. In those times, though, the important thing to remember is, you have fulfilled your dream of becoming a novelist, and you have taken your vision from that place inside, to that place where books really are–outside.”

Don went on to write about marketing your book and hopefully selling it. At the time he wrote the book, the only way to publish was via a traditional publisher, or with original vanity publishing which could cost you a small fortune, or self publish and sell your books out of the back of your car, as a few well-known authors have done. James Redfield and The Celestine Prophecy comes to mind, as does Richard Paul Evans who also wrote another best-seller, The Christmas Box; and a more recent book, The Shack.

Today we consider the Internet and the incredible technology to be so much a part of our lives, and I believe if Don were still alive he would be in favor of what many authors are now doing with self-publishing and e-books.

He wrote: “Play the game and give it all the artful attention you possess. I shudder to think of all the talented writers I have known who are still unpublished because they never learned to play the game to their best advantage. In a card game, you know, there is a time to sit tight and a time to fold. Play your publishing moment to its best advantage.

“If you have not yet found that moment then you need to get actively involved in your own destiny. Even a moment that may be pre-ordained needs a willing and active interest in those whispers from the muses, a driving force that propels you into that fateful encounter. It will not come looking for you unless you have already "prepared the soil" for a fertile encounter.

“Develop an understanding of the publishing world. “

Get actively involved in your own destiny. Yes, Don would be in favor of self-publishing especially when you know you have produced a credible and quality work. You have a choice and you don’t have to waste time and seek permission to share your book with the world.

The time can be now! Go for it!

Kindle, Smashwords, Createspace, not only give us darn good royalties that are not found in traditional publishing, but give us opportunity to share our works worldwide.



The Metaphysics of the Novel is available at Kindle, Smashwords, and other ebook online stores and in print at Amazon.com

~Linda

Don Pendleton's Joe Copp Mystery Series

Today I put up a Facebook page for Don Pendleton’s Joe Copp Private Eye Thriller series. It includes the covers to the books, designed by Judy. Judy and I have worked together now for ten years. She’s done my websites and my POD and ebook covers. If you have a need for Kindle, Smashwords, ebook covers, or POD covers, take a look at Judy's website. She does good work.

The first book in the Joe Copp series of six, Copp for Hire, is now on SALE for .99 Cents at Kindle and at Smashwords, with the five other novels $2.99 each. If you like hard-boiled, fast paced stories, check the books out. The popular novels were originally published in hardcover and then in paper.

They are also available in print with the new covers that we did recently. All six ebooks should be available very soon in Nook, Kobo, iPad and other formats. I believe three or four are currently available in those additional applications, but all six will soon be, if they are not already.

Many people do not know they can download the Kindle app for their PC, and other devices. You can then sample Kindle books at Amazon, in addition to buying ebooks in seconds.

Check out Don’s Author Page at Smashwords and the Joe Copp series Amazon Kindle.

And if you are on Facebook, visit “Don Pendleton’s Joe Copp, Private Eye Series” Page.

Linda

Ebook and POD Covers

If you have a need for ebook or POD covers, check out my cover designer. Judy has been doing my covers for ten years now. And she can do yours.

See samples of her work Here at her website Jaebee Creations. Her second page has many of my book covers and books of other authors.

~Linda

Our Multiple Device World

According to Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, the Kindle is a “purpose-filled device where no trade-offs have been made, where every design decision as your walking down the process has been for optimized reading.”

Bezos refers to the Kindle as an electronic paper display, comfortable to the eyes, and for ease of reading. He stated, “Buy once—Read everywhere.” That might include buying a Kindle book and reading it on your PC, as I do, or on a Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, and other devices.

As of last July, Amazon had 630,000 Kindle books, and the large majority priced under $9.99. In addition, 8 million Public Domain books.

I believe it will be interesting to see how the sales of the Kindle and Kindle books increase over this next couple of months with holiday sales.

The visionary Jeff Bezos has also allowed for individual Kindle book titles to now be given directly as gifts, minus messing around with a general gift certificate.

It may be a multiply device world as Jeff Bezos refers to it, but darn looks like all you need is a Kindle to read your favorite books.

Jeff Bezos and Charlie Rose having this discussion.




~Linda

Janet Evanovich on ebooks and self-publishing

"If you are a guy and you make a lot of money, you are a success. If you are a woman and you make a lot of money, you are a bitch." ~Janet Evanovich, author

Jeff Rivera interviewed Janet Evanovich for mediabistro.com. Here is his question to Janet in regards to ebooks and self-publishing.:

“With the eBook revolution threatening to overtake print books permanently, what are your thoughts about how this could affect your revenue?”

Janet: “Yeah, I love eBooks. I think they're great, and I'm not sure how they are going to affect my revenue. I'm not sure anybody knows. I think we're going to have to wait and see how it shakes out. What I know is that they are not going to go away. The kids have come up being so comfortable on the screen, and now even all ages are buying into the Kindle and iPad. eBooks are here to stay. I think that anything that expands the market, anything that encourages people to read, anything that enhances the reading experience, makes it easier, makes it cheaper, makes it more interesting -- fabulous, I just love it. I think we haven't even seen the beginning of eBooks. All kinds of great things are going to come out of it.”

“Today's authors stand to make dramatically more income by self-publishing and publishing directly on formats such as Amazon's Kindle. Have you given any thought to doing the same for your future titles?”

Janet: “Actually, I have given it some thought, and then I've said, "What? Are you nuts?" It's not that simple. I think that there are a lot of people out there self-publishing and who have the ability to get their work out now because of the Internet, but it has lots of limitations: distribution, publicity, marketing. There are just many, many components that for me, at least at my level, just don't work for me. I am actually really happy to have help from a publisher. It's enough to keep my ass in the chair and keep writing without taking on that also. And I mean, I have my whole family working for me and they're all doing their own jobs, and I can't imagine one more job added to the list.”
© WebMediaBrands Inc. 2010. All Rights Reserved

Read the interview here.

Two Books are EPIC Award Finalist

It was nearly 10 years ago that I began publishing books electronically. In 2002, my nonfiction book Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom won a Finalist ebook Award from EPIC (now known as the Electronically Published Internet Coalition™), and in the previous year, the crime novel, Roulette by my husband Don Pendleton and me (then titled One Dark and Stormy Night) was also chosen as an EPIC ebook Award Finalist. This year I decided to enter the 2011 EPIC eBook Awards Competition™. And again, two of my books have been chosen as Award Finalist! The winners will be announced at the EPIC annual conference, held in historical Williamsburg, Virginia, March 10-13, 2011.

The popularity of ebooks has increased tremendously and will continue to do so now with the Kindle, iPad, Nook, and numerous electronic devices. Looking back over the decade, I knew back then it would be the technology of our future, and although it has happened a little slow, it is taking off and is becoming more popular month by month. I hope Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is prepared for Kindle sales this Christmas as I believe they will go through the roof. That means many of our books will sell as well. And for those of us who have chosen to publish with Kindle, Smashwords, and other distributors, we now have the opportunity to publish, have control of our work, and enjoy a sense of freedom. I am a self-published author and am proud of my work. It is also nice that the stigma of self-publishing is dropping by the wayside. Works of quality are being self-published, electronically and in print.

Jon Guenther and I (and a few other authors) for many months have protested among ourselves (and at times publicly) about the uncalled for attitude of writer’s groups, other successful authors, who were or are against those of us who have chosen alternative ways to publish. In other words, to self-publish, without agents, or the NY Biggies. I’m reminded of the Paul Anka song, My Way. And yeah, we are doing it our way. Good for us.

Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator by Linda Pendleton

2011 EPIC Award Finalist, Mystery and/or Suspense Novel Category

The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton, Introduction by Linda Pendleton
2011 EPIC Award Finalist, Non-fiction Category

I’m delighted. Both books are available at Amazon Kindle and at Amazon in print.

Bookstores: A Sign of the Times

The New York Times is reporting that Barnes and Noble will close there Manhattan Upper West Side store at Broadway and 66th Street, near Lincoln Center in January 2011.

Company spokeswoman, Mary Ellen Keating stated: “Barnes & Noble regrets to announce that we will be closing our Lincoln Triangle Store at 1972 Broadway at 66th Street in Manhattan at the end of January 2011. We recognize that this store has been an important part of the fabric of the Upper West Side community since we opened our doors on October 20, 1995, however, the current lease is at its end of term, and the increased rent that would be required to stay in the location makes it economically impossible for us to extend the lease. We want our loyal customers and booksellers to know that we are ever committed to continuing our search for a new location on the Upper West Side.”

The NY Times article added: "While Barnes & Noble has recently suffered declining foot traffic, it still has a store at the corner of 82nd and Broadway on the Upper West Side, and in July 2009, it opened a 50,000-square-foot superstore at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue.

"Two other Barnes & Noble stores in Manhattan, one on Astor Place and one in Chelsea, have closed in the last three years.

"Barnes & Noble, which put itself up for sale this month, is in the midst of a proxy fight for control of the company."

But the upcoming closing of Barnes and Noble is also affecting another local bookstore, a sidewalk bookstore that belongs to Charles Mysak. For more than a decade, beginning at 7:00 a.m., Mysak sets up his sidewalk bookstore on an old folding table and has sold hundreds of used books from his table and a few crates and boxes. Most books sell for under $5, but he, too, is feeling the impact of the downturn in paper book buying. He does not see it as business failure but as a "reflection of society." He refers to the many customers of the local Apple store who walk out with expensive items and walk out "as if they are in ecstasy."

The NY Times quotes Mysak: “It is apparent that we have a real serious issue, that the life of the mind has been in decline for some time now. Ignorance and indolence is the primary problem. If you take care of the mind, everything else follows.”

I wonder, is the mind in decline? Or, is the mind moving forward to explore and experiment with new ways to read, ways to save a few bucks, and is the mind just enjoying the latest technology that comes along?

Ebooks have found their place, and it appears they don't need four walls and brick and mortar or a folding table on a sidewalk.

~Linda

Robert W. Walker Interviewed by Andrew E. Kaufman

Andrew E. Kaufman has posted an excellent interview with author, Robert W. Walker about his upcoming book, Titanic 2012-- Curse of the RMS Titanic, and why he decided to leave traditional publishing and move into independent e-book publishing after many years, and many books.

Read the full interview at Andrew's blog.

~Linda

Debate on Self Publishing Continues, and Continues

Author Jon Guenther posted interesting comments on his blog about self-publishing and the ebook debate which is the current hot topic in the world of publishing. (I agree with him). And I have a feeling the topic will not cool to a tepid temp for quite some time.

This week a news item from mass market paperback publisher Dorchester Publishing, reported in Publishers Weekly and elsewhere, stating the company "has dropped its traditional print publishing business in favor of an e-book/print-on-demand model effective with its September titles that are “shipping” now." They have been in the mass market paperback business publishing mainly romance, and also westerns, thrillers, etc., and although not one of the NY conglomerates, they've been a stable and recognized publisher since 1971.

It is also an indication that the movement by many authors into self-publishing ebooks and PODs, along with the public buying and reading ebooks, is definetly having an impact on the book world. Every few days it seems, another topic of interest regarding ebooks arises, whether from Amazon, authors, agents or publishers.

I am currently expanding my ebook distribution beyond Amazon's Kindle now to the various other platforms for reader devices through Smashwords.com. And this week Amazon.com in the UK now has Kindle and our U.S. books available.

Times they are A'Changin' .... and A'Changin'

And many of us are happy to see the changes and new opportunities taking place. I believe it gives us a new sense of identity as authors to have not only choice in the way we publish our books, but control over our works as never before.

Some of my previous posts about the subject of self-publishing PODs and ebooks.

Charlie Rose Interviews Amazon's Jeff Bezos

Linda Pendleton on the Self-Publishing Debate

Linda Pendleton on Pixels and Fonts: Ebooks and Ebook Readers

And two articles I published nearly ten years ago concerning the subject at a time when the interest in ebooks was really just beginning:

Pixels and Fonts, Should it Matter? Resistance to Ebook Publishing by Some in the Library Profession.

Ebook Publishing vs. Print Publishing: A Look at the Pros and Cons.

And more from Jon Guenther on his Blog: Amazon and the Kindle Rock.

Yes, Times they are A'Changin'

Yipee...



~Linda

Amazon.com Now Selling More Kindle Books Than Hardcover Books

" ... even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format.” -Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

Author Andrew E. Kaufman, who I recently interviewed, brought this Amazon information to my attention via his blog post. For those of us who are Kindle authors, it is encouraging to see the promising growth rate of the Kindle users, and the overall popularity of ebooks.

I do now have the Kindle for PC and this has given me the opportunity to download sample chapters of ebooks I may be interested in. I’m in front of my computer monitor so many hours of the day that I do not find it difficult to read a book on my 19” flat screen. Heck, I do that all the time when writing a book or when I recently formatted 12 of my late husband Don Pendleton’s books for re-print and Kindle. And as I have been saying, maybe one day I will buy the Kindle Reader as the price is now more attractive.

Thinking a very few months ahead, I wonder how many Kindles will sell for the Christmas Holiday? Do you plan on having one at some point?

SEATTLE, Jul 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- (NASDAQ: AMZN) -- Millions of people are already reading on Kindles and Kindle is the #1 bestselling item on Amazon.com for two years running. It's also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product on Amazon.com. Today, Amazon.com announced that Kindle device unit sales accelerated each month in the second quarter--both on a sequential month-over-month basis and on a year-over-year basis.

"We've reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle--the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189," said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format. Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books--astonishing when you consider that we've been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months."

Kindle offers the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read. The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 630,000 books, including New Releases and 106 of 110 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 510,000 of these books are $9.99 or less, including 75 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available to read on Kindle.

Recent milestones for Kindle books include:

Over the past three months, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 143 Kindle books. Over the past month, for every 100 hardcover books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 180 Kindle books. This is across Amazon.com's entire U.S. book business and includes sales of hardcover books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.

Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books in the first half of 2010 as in the first half of 2009.

The Association of American Publishers' latest data reports that e-book sales grew 163 percent in the month of May and 207 percent year-to-date through May. Kindle book sales in May and year-to-date through May exceeded those growth rates.

On July 6, Hachette announced that James Patterson had sold 1.14 million e-books to date. Of those, 867,881 were Kindle books.

Five authors--Charlaine Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts--have each sold more than 500,000 Kindle books.

Readers are responding to Kindle's uncompromising approach to the reading experience. Weighing 10.2 ounces, Kindle can be held comfortably in one hand for hours, has an e-ink display that is easy on the eyes even in bright daylight, has two weeks of battery life, lets you buy your books once and read them everywhere--on your Kindle, Kindle DX, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry, and Android-based devices--and has free 3G wireless with no monthly fees or annual contracts--all at a $189 price.

SOURCE: Amazon.com

~Linda

Free PC Kindle Reader and New Kindle Price

Amazon has recently dropped the price of their ebook reader, the Kindle.

It now sells for $189...an attractive price...

and you can now download FREE an app, A Kindle reader, for your computer, BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad...



With Amazon's increased royalty rate for authors that just went into effect, it would be my guess that more and more books in the $2.99 to $9.99 price range are going to be available as authors choose to take advantage of the greater royalty.

~Linda

Self-Publishing Debate

I’m beginning to find rather amusing these ongoing and, at times, heated discussions of self publishing vs. standard publishing. Oh, some refer to it as vanity publishing...a term I now consider to be misplaced in some instances. If you receive royalties, I believe that to not be vanity publishing.

More than ten years ago, the Authors Guild, Inc.(I’ve been a member since 1990) began to offer their members the opportunity to put there out of print books back in print. Many authors have done so. I did so with my late husband, Don Pendleton’s two mystery series, 12 books in all: the Joe Copp Private Eye Thrillers and the Ashton Ford Psychic Detective series. The Back in Print program was in conjunction with iUniverse.com (a company somehow connected at the time with Barnes and Noble) and apparently now under the umbrella of Author Solutions/Author House.

At the time I published Don’s 12 books with the Back in Print program, the set up cost per book was $99 and the royalty rate was 25%. I also published several other books with iUniverse over the next two years or so, at the $99 setup, and did my own covers, and had a royalty rate on those new books at 20%.

They’ve made profit...and I have heard from others, “but you didn’t get anything up front like you would with a publisher.” No, you do not get an advance when publishing this way, an advance against royalties. And in some cases, depending on the size of the advance you receive, it could be all you ever get, or if you earn out more royalty above the initial advance (usually part on signing, part on delivery of the mss), the publisher may distribute it to you over a long period of time while keeping some of your earned royalty money as a protection for them against returns by booksellers.

In the last few years since I published with iUniverse, their rates have increased significantly...about 500%. And things are not as good with this new company—they were slower to post royalties, and are not posting Kindle royalties (I paid $99 bucks recently to have two book put at Kindle by iUniverse). That was a mistake on my part as I could have done it for FREE myself, as I’ve discovered how easy it is to do. I’ve now put 31 books at Kindle myself, and I love that as I can watch my daily sales through my account at Amazon Kindle.

I have also ended my agreement with iUniverse on the Joe Copp and Ashton Ford mystery series, and will be putting them in print with createspace.com shortly. I did new covers for all 12 and put them at Kindle where they are selling nicely. Those same covers will be done soon for the new PODs.

I also published two books with createspace.com, my PI novel, Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator, and The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton. That was quick and easy at $39.

So what I am so amused at is the apparent belief by many (agents, publishers, and authors) that books published in this way have no value. You can read what many are saying in their blogs, and in comments about POD and ebook publishing....if an author decided to bypass the agent—the mainstream publisher, then the manuscript must be “junk” and not worthy of publication. Why does a writer’s group disallow an author membership if he or she has published in this way? Why are some well-known writers against this kind of publication? Why do they care? They have made their money via their choice. (or have they actually gotten ripped off by mainstream publishers and don’t care to admit that—and believe me, it can happen).

Personally I prefer having control over my books, and if it means not having to go through the marketing process of a well-written manuscript, whether at the agent level or the publisher level, which can take many, many months or longer, it is well worth it to me. I get irritated when an agent takes months to reply, or will only reply to a query if interested, often leaving the author hanging will waiting a reasonable time, Yes, my books may suffer lack of distribution, but I have decided that I will do all I can to let people know of my writing and those who are meant to read it, will. The others who want to complain and prejudge the quality of work with a self-published tag on it, well, that is their problem.

Authors write for a variety of reason and expectations from publishing their work can be varied. And the rewards of writing have nothing much to do with bucks but with heart-felt feedback. Those are the things that stay with an author, the joy of sharing—the meeting of the minds, the author’s with the reader’s. The moment you learn you inspired someone with your words, that’s all that really matters. I’ve enjoyed that many times over in the last twenty years. And my husband, Don Pendleton was able to enjoy that for his long career, and even today, I still receive emails from his fans on how his books inspired them.

For some quality self-published works, take a look at Jon Guenther, H. Charles Dilmore, Summer Bacon, Stephen Tremp, Don Pendleton, Linda Pendleton, Greg Pendleton, and in the coming weeks, a memoir by Athena Demetrios. I’m sure some of you know of others who could be added to the list. I know the list of quality, interesting, and inspirational, self published books must be very long. It has to be as there is a lot of talent in this world.

Some mainstream publishers and booksellers who are getting in the game of offering publishing programs for a fee, now includes Harlequin, Thomas Nelson, Barnes and Noble (just announced), Hay House, of course, Amazon, and I would bet the list is growing day by day.

So why the negative reaction by some agents to authors who self publish? Seems obvious....they may be out a job one day.

What is not obvious is why another published author cares if one of his peers decides to self-publish....

Oh, maybe that’s it. They don’t consider self-published authors “peers” in their “elite” world? Could that be it?

All that said, do I believe in spending a lot of money putting your book out there? No, not really. Any aspiring author about to publish should carefully research, consider all alternatives, and not be “taken in” at a vulnerable time—vulnerable—yes, as it feels great to hold your book in your hand, or to see it listed for Kindle download or other downloads as ebooks.

It’s a sense of pride of doing what we love to do, and doing it well. As Joseph Campbell once said, “Follow your bliss.” And if that bliss is writing, do it!

~Linda

The E-Book Battle

This Sunday article in the Washington Post addresses some of the publishing issues I have written about, i.e.: e-books, book prices, the industry ignoring what readers desire, and what writers want in regards to fair royalties. You can also add Print On Demand to this as e-books often have POD availability.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

E-books spark battle inside the publishing industry
By Marion Maneker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 27, 2009

“The evolution of publishing from print to digital has caused a schism in the reading world. There are now two constituencies: readers (and writers) on the one hand, and the publishing world on the other. And they don't want to hear each other.”

“Readers want books that are plentiful and cheap, publishers want to preserve their profit, and authors want a larger share of revenue. The conflict has created a strident internecine battle inside the publishing industry.”

...”Publishers can no longer be vast containers of intellectual property distributed in paper form to bookstores, supermarkets and warehouse clubs. But they don't have to be: They can become highly selective distributors to bookstores, supermarkets and price clubs. That's the lesson of the television, music and movie businesses.”

“But if the publishers want a role in the e-books business, they'll need to get over it and get on with it, embracing lower-priced e-books with higher author royalties. That seems unlikely. Because it's now clear that publishers just don't want to listen to what their customers are telling them.”

Read the complete Washington Post article.

See my previous post on ebooks, self-publishing, Kindle.

Unease in the Publishing World

Pixels and Fonts, E-books and E-book Readers

Publishing With Kindle

~Linda

Pixels and Fonts...E-Books and E-Readers

In this last two months I have published two new books, Shattered Lens, Catherine Winter, Private Investigator and The Cosmic Breath: Metaphysical Essays of Don Pendleton, and I have also published several of our in-print books as Kindle Editions. All are available at Amazon, including the new ten Kindle editions for the Kindle Reader.

I read an article in the New York Times, E-Reading, in 2 Authors’ Eyes by Peter Wayner, after a Twitter reference to it by author, Joseph Finder one of the subjects of the article.

Joseph Finder, author of high tech thrillers, stated, “I read a lot of nonfiction, particularly for research, and since I read a lot when I travel, I like the convenience of being able to lug a huge pile of books in one slim device.”

He does make a good point here that for traveling it would really come in handy to use the Kindle or another brand e-book reader. But Finder also brought up the disadvantage of not having an index in nonfiction books, especially while doing research. It can be time consuming and frustrating trying to find particular information without an index.

Lee Child, also a best-selling author of thrillers, mentioned in the article how not having the actual physical book made one concentrate a little more on the actual text. Even though he seemed content with e-book readers, he mentioned that one company may become the dominant supplier of e-readers, but that could also include e-books.

It appears that could happen easily with Amazon and the Kindle. Having just published ten things to Amazon Kindle, I can see what the future may hold in that regard.

We now live in a world of electronics and the young are fully immerged in that world and as new advances in technology come along, e-books and e-reading are bound to become more the norm. We’ve already seen that happening more in these few years.

Literary Agent, Nathan Bransford did his annual poll this week on his blog, on e-books, and the results show the trend moving toward the acceptance of e-books.

The percentage of people who said you'd have to pry paper books out of their cold dead hands:

2007: 49%

2008: 45%

2009: 37%

I wrote an article in 2002 about e-books and a librarian we had in our town. Pixels or Fonts, Does it Matter? The Resistance to E-books by Some in the Library Profession. Even though more than seven years have passed, it pretty much still applies as I wrote it. (The librarian left the job not long after.)

As long as they keep the font size on the e-readers adjustable for those of us over the hill, we may give up the paper books and the dust mites (I'm allergic to those little buggers that love old books) that go along with them, for a slick, thin, light-weight e-reader. I’m sure when prices come down, most of us will have one.

I read that Jeff Bezos’ Amazon.com is working on getting the Kindle in Europe. I’m sure it will happen soon. I believe they have it worked out for Canada now. As authors, that will broaden our readership.

So if you are one who has a Kindle or will be getting one for a Christmas gift, consider some of my fiction and nonfiction Kindle Editions, or the regular old fashioned print books. And there is also my e-courses and e-books that can be given as gifts. Those do not need an e-reader as they are downloadable as PDF files from my publisher. They’ve sold all over the world.

~Linda

Publishing with Kindle

Recently I have been reading blogs of several authors who have taken the leap into publishing for the Kindle Reader at amazon.com

For some authors, it has been books never before published and for others it is their unpublished works.

So with enough on my plate as always, I decided I needed an added challenge! So I have published three books with Kindle this past week.

The first one I decided to do was my novella, The Masquerading Cowboy, a short I wrote some time back and won a writing contest with it. I decided I would try formatting it myself for the Kindle and I was having problems with the formatting such as putting in a cover graphic within the text, and feeling uneasy. So I contacted Joshua at Kindle Formatting and in a few days he had my book formatted and ready for me to upload at Kindle.

But one book did not satisfy me so I did a second one, a nonfiction, A Meeting of the Minds: 19th Century Poet-Philosophers Explore Spirituality, and formatted it myself with some trial and error. I know a little about html coding and actually was able to read the html and correct a few little flaws. It took a few uploads and going through the preview of it a few times, but I finally got it!

So my success with formatting led me to publish a third one, Exclusive Interview With Richard S. Prather, Author of the Best-Selling Shell Scott Mystery Series.

I also began to thinking about my other books and putting them into Kindle editions. So I decided to do two of my published novels and The Dawning and Roulette will be Kindle editions in the coming weeks. I decided not to tackle the formatting on those myself but left it up to my publisher to do so.

I work with my web designer, Judy on my book covers. I give her the idea of what I want and she comes up with it. So if anyone needs a cover for a Kindle book, an ebook, or a POD, visit her website.

One day I may have to break down and buy a Kindle Reader. I only know one person with a Kindle and she really likes it.

I don’t know where publishing is going as the economy has definitely affected the business and in turn all of us authors. Many authors are looking at alternative choices such as self publishing, PODs, ebooks, and Kindle editions. There are pros and cons in moving away from traditional publishing, the main thing being distribution and ending up with only online bookstores and not in brick and mortar stores. Some people will always want the physical book in their hands, not a reading device. But it appears over these last years or so people are very willing to read downloaded books on their reading devices or computer screens. And this young generation is exposed to computer technology at such a early age, sometimes pre-school, they may always prefer to use a computer or reader instead of a paper book. After all, many of them do text or tweet all the time from their handheld devices.

In 2002 I wrote an article about ebooks versus print books and quoted N.Y. agent, Richard Curtis, a well known New York Literary Agent and president of E-reads, an electronic publishing company. He had this to say, January 7, 2002, in a "Publishers Weekly Magazine" article: "How long are we going to endure skeptics telling us that nobody wants to read on screen, when thousands are paying do so every day?" He also stated in response to critics, "Those of us making money in e-books, delivering thousands of downloads every month, paying royalties to authors and publishers, have to wonder what planet these pundits are on." I agreed with Curtis then, and still do.

Will it replace library bookshelves? Probably not, but it may in time drastically change the book market. After all, the world is changing. And probably most of us are using technology now that we never dreamed of a few years ago. Isn’t that right?

Linda Pendleton at Kindle Store

~Linda

Barry Eisler, Author of Thriller Novels

Barry Eisler, Author

Photo from his website

I’m intrigued by this Northern California best selling and award winning author, Barry Eisler. He writes fiction, thrillers, based around his imagination and research, and possibly influenced by his career choices: his time in a covert position with the CIA’s Directorate of Operations; graduate of Cornell Law School; technology attorney in an international law firm; counsel in Japan at Matusushita Electric; and a Silicon Valley technology start-up executive. He has a black belt in Judo.

He’s written a series of six books featuring his character, Japanese American assassin John Rain. His latest book, Fault Line features new characters: brothers Ben and Alex Treven, estranged and embittered by a family tragedy, find themselves forced to rely on each other, and their very different talents, to escape a deadly conspiracy.

Barry has written an interesting article, Dead Trees is a Dead Model, about his views on ebooks and the effects on the publishing industry now and in the future as a guest blogger on MJ Roses’ Buzz, Balls & Hype.

I read his blog also. It is not about writing (you can find that at this website) but is about his insightful look at politics and news items.

This interview of Barry Eisler is informative and inspirational for any writer or aspiring writer, or just a fan of his books and/or the art of writing.












~Linda