Business End

Articles about the business aspects of publishing and self-publishing.

Fun with Twitter for Authors

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This post, by Steven Ramirez, originally appeared on his Glass Highway site and is reprinted here in its entirety with the author’s permission.

Okay, here’s the deal. Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at Twitter profiles. Why? Because I pretty much decide whom to follow based on the profile. Currently, I am interested in following other authors. And I will say that many make it very easy to just say no.

I don’t pretend to be a social media expert. For that kind of expertise, you should check out folks like Brian Solis, Jeremy Owyang, Charlene Li and Guy Kawasaki. But I have learned some things, and I’d like to offer you a few tips to get you going. Note that there are many other things you should be thinking about, but we’d be here all day. Anyway, let’s get started.

Protect Your Brand

It’s you out there on the Internet, and you don’t want anyone or anything messing with how people perceive you. Furthermore, you don’t want to take it lightly yourself. Social media is powerful—but it’s also kind of dangerous. One mistake can have horrible consequences, even if it wasn’t your fault. Just ask McDonalds (see “#McDStories, McDonald’s Twitter Hashtag Promotion, Goes Horribly Wrong”).

So what do you do? First you make sure that your online persona is consistent across the various social media sites. This does not mean that you need to sign up for every single thing out there! Who would have the time to manage all that? No, what I mean is that you should ensure that those sites you are active in are consistent in what they say about you—your profile—and what you look like—your photo.

While we’re at it, at a minimum you should be on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads, and have an updated Author profile on Amazon. Anything else—like Pinterest and Instagram—are optional as far as I’m concerned.

Make sure that all of your links are current. The last thing you want is for someone to hit a dead end. It makes you look like an amateur.

You Are a Business

That’s right. I am making the huge assumption that if you are a writer, you would actually like for someone to buy your books. If that’s indeed the case, then you must act like a business. That means having a “good” photo on Twitter.

This is something that continues to befuddle me. I can’t tell you the number of authors who choose pictures of their cat or their gimlet-eyed dog for their profile. Seriously, people! I’m not interested in following a cat. Look, if you love your pet that much, then create another Twitter account devoted exclusively to felines.

Another thing that annoys me is grainy or out-of-focus photos that look like they were taken at Aunt Minnie’s house back when you had hair and wore plaid pants. I realize that photographers are expensive. But at least try to get a decent photo. This also goes back to protecting your brand.

Finally, make sure your bio is relevant. Like the photos of the cat or dog, many authors do not actually lead with writing! They talk about such interesting topics as windsurfing and mountain climbing and hot dog-eating contests and any number of other pointless hobbies. You’re an author, right? Why isn’t that the first thing in your bio?

The ABCs of Engagement

Getting back to Twitter, there’s a well-known acronym that every good salesman knows—ABC. It stands for Always Be Closing. In other words, you should always be selling something to someone—convincing them that they need to buy your product.

Well, guess what. That doesn’t fly in social media. I have seen writers who spend a great deal of Twitter bandwidth hawking their books and little else. Look, it’s fine to advertise. But you should be giving back to the community. That means providing information that people can actually use.

I spend a good part of my Twitter time curating, which means that most days I scour all the blogs I follow and look for interesting posts I feel might be of benefit to others. Sometimes I add what I hope is useful commentary. And I don’t just focus on writing and publishing—I also like to find things related to movies and television.

Twitter is a strange and interesting creature. It forces us to think in 140 characters or less. In many cases, that’s enough to do something really great. I’m not saying that my Twitter profile is perfect. But I am always happy to share what I know with anyone who cares to listen. Good luck, and feel free to add your comments.

 

Tax Advice For Writers: Office-At-Home Deductions

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Publetariat Contributor, attorney and tax expert Julian Block has generously allowed us to reprint this excerpt from the newly updated, 2013 edition of his book, Easy Tax Guide For Writers, Photographers and Other Freelancers.

Thinking of taking a home office as a tax deduction? Not so fast. Just because you can walk 20 feet from your bedroom to your work area and conduct business in your bathrobe doesn’t mean the nook with the computer qualifies as a bona fide office.

Home-office deductions aggravate the IRS. Audits turn up abundant evidence that lots of writers mistakenly claim these deductions. In fact, an aggrieved agency has gone to court repeatedly, winning support for its strict stand in rejecting write-offs for spaces supposedly set aside as home offices. So whether you’re sorting out home-office complexities for the first time or are an old hand at it, don’t go too far.

Internal Revenue Code Section 280A allows work-at-home writers to claim home-office deductions only if they pass a series of tests. You must use a portion of your home exclusively and on a regular basis for work in your business. It has to be your principal place of business.

 

TIP: Arranging things to pass the tests lets you transform otherwise nondeductible personal expenditures (a portion of everything from home-insurance premiums to repairs to utility bills to depreciation if you own your house or a percentage of your rent) into deductible business expenses.

 

“EXCLUSIVELY” MEANS JUST THAT

The IRS is a stickler about what constitutes exclusive use. It insists that you use the entire area—whether a single desk, a room or an entire floor—only for business and nothing else. Use the home office for any personal, family or investment activities, and you forfeit all rights to home-office deductions.

IRS revenue agents and office auditors are at ease when scrutinizing a deduction for an office in a room that is closed off from all non-business activities. They remain at ease when the office is just a small part of a room as long as you clearly separate the business portion from the rest—by a partition, perhaps. The burden is on you to establish that no personal activities take place within the business area, which accounts for why examiners pounce on deductions for offices housed in studio apartments.

 

CAUTION: A television in the office is a surefire way to fail the exclusive test—with a possible exception for someone who shows a business need to keep up with the news. Another no-no is when the office is where you stash your cat’s litter box or your children play video games or do their homework on personal computers. Code Section 280A is fleshed out by detailed administrative regulations. The regulations don’t tell revenue agents and office auditors that all personal activities are verboten. Most IRS staffers are reasonable. They don’t mind that you had personal conversations on office phones or computers. And they don’t insist that you should have rushed outside whenever family members needed to ask questions or Fluffy craved some Meow Mix.

 

TIP: An appropriate standard for your at-home office: Permit personal activities only to the extent they’re permitted for someone who’s an employee in an office building.

 

HOW DOES THE IRS DEFINE “REGULARLY”?

Because gray areas abound, the regulations set no arbitrary standard for how much you must use the office to pass the regular-use test. Examiners base their decisions on the particular circumstances. Usually, working in the office a couple of hours a day, several days a week proves sufficient; a couple of hours a week probably doesn’t pass muster. While the regulations allow some leeway, look forward to a disputed deduction if you use an otherwise empty room infrequently for a purpose that is incidental to your business.

 

TIP: The regulations don’t require your endeavor to be a full-time business. It can be part time, as when you moonlight from your home as a writer and have a full-time job elsewhere. Examiners don’t care that you devote more time to moonlighting than to your job.

 

“PRINCIPAL PLACE OF BUSINESS” HAS ITS OWN MEANING.

You aren’t home free just because you pass the “regularly” and “exclusively” requirements. In IRS-speak, the home office also has to be your “principal place of business.” Without the legalese, that means the place where you personally meet clients or customers (phone calls don’t count) or the only fixed location where you conduct your business’ key administrative or management activities. There can’t be another fixed location outside of your home where you conduct such activities for that business. Some IRS-approved examples of administrative or management activities: arranging appointments; billing clients, customers or patients; ordering supplies; maintaining records; forwarding orders; and preparing reports.

 

TIP: Assuming the other requirements are met, the deduction remains available when you (1) carry out administrative or management activities while traveling (e.g., from a hotel room or car) or (2) do occasional paperwork or administrative tasks at a fixed location other than your home.

Click here to learn more about, or purchase, Julian Block’s Easy Tax Guide For Writers, Photographers and Other Freelancers.

If You Struggle With Plot, Here’s How to Think About It Differently

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This post, from Stuart Horwitz, originally appeared as a guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog.

One thing I hear from writers a lot is, “My work has always been more character-driven, which I think is why I struggle with plot.”

I’m not sure what character-driven means in this context. Does it mean that their work is more about what people think and feel than about the things that happen? Maybe. But it may also simply mean, “I like to write really messy first drafts, and the only way I can find my way through the material at all is by identifying with a character or two.”

But guess what: First drafts are supposed to be a mess! And the notion of “plot” is a misconception that leads too many writers to get confused and focus on all the wrong things. In fact, the best way to produce a first draft is to produce a large pile of pages and avoid trying to organize anything at all. At first.

Upon hearing this, writers may ask, “How do I know when I’ve finished my first draft?” In a sense, first drafts are never finished; where you stopped writing is the end of the first draft. Then it’s time to step back and see what you’ve got. And the way I recommend doing this is by using the unfamiliar, plot-free concept of series.

What is this series I speak of?

A series is the repetition and variation of a narrative element within a story, the process of improvement or deterioration which creates the narrative arc.

The repetitions and variations of an object, for example, is what creates a symbol. A series can also be seen in the repetitions and variations of a person (or if you prefer, their identity and change), which is what creates a character.

 
Read the rest of the post on Jane Friedman’s blog.

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Stuart Horwitz is the author of Blueprint Your Bestseller. Find him on Twitter at @Book _Arch.

Simon & Schuster / Archway Update

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Last week I posted about the “bounty” Simon & Schuster offered to pay me to refer indie authors to their new self-pub Archway imprint. Since then I’ve learned many of my colleagues received the same offer and were just as outraged as I was.

[On Friday March 8] I received a follow-up email from a different S&S staffer. It reads:

Hi April,

Veda forwarded your e-mail to me. I manage Archway Publishing for S&S, and would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about the service. There are a lot of options available to self-publishing authors today, and we believe Archway delivers real value. Please let me know if you’d be interested in speaking, and we can schedule a time.

Regards,
[name, with a simon and schuster email address]

And here is my response to that email:

Unless one of those options is to detach AuthorHouse from Archway, I have no interest in hearing anything more you have to say.

You cannot partner with Bernie Madoff to offer investment services and expect people to ignore the fact that your partner is Bernie Madoff.

———————
‘Nuff said.

This is a cross-posting from April L. Hamilton’s Indie Author Blog.

Atlantic Guy Continues To Mansplain Why It’s OK To Work For Free

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This post, by Kris E. Benson, originally appeared on Wonkette on 3/6/13.

Well, well, well. First, let us all take a step back and appreciate exactly where we are right now: we are in a place wherein paying people for their work has become a topic worthy of debate and discussion. Let’s just let that soak in for a second: paying people for their work has become a topic worthy of debate and discussion. See, for example, Alexis C. Madrigal’s frantic tweets wherein he tries to defend the system at the Atlantic and explain to us what it is like to work for a digital newspaper. Thanks Alexis C. Madrigal, it is duly noted!

[Publetariat Editor’s note: strong language after the jump]

Shall we examine this long post wherein Alexis C. Madrigal talks about why it is OK for other people (not him) to not get paid for their work? Sure, let’s do that!

When Nate Thayer published emails with our newest editor (second week on the job), I can see how that might happen. How you might finish writing your last email, “No offense taken,” and then staring at your blog’s CMS that night, decide, you know, what? I’m tired of writing for peanuts, because fuck that. And if a young journalist in her first week on the job was part of the collateral damage, hey, the world just isn’t fair, kid. Pay it forward.

I get it, but it was still a nasty thing to do.

[Publetariat Editor’s note – follow the link to read the Nate Thayer post, it will clarify what Wonkette’s post is about (and it will open in a separate window). Essentially, Nate Thayer was offered, and turned down, a non-paying gig at The Atlantic which was offered to him by a newish Atlantic editor named Olga Khazan.]

To be sure, this is not Olga Khazan’s fault; it is the fault of the Atlantic for putting her in the crappy position of having to ask people to work for free.

Still, what NATE THAYER did was a “nasty thing to do”? It isn’t “nasty” to imply that Nate Thayer’s work has no value? And then defend that position on Twitter and on the Atlantic website?

Whatever, anyway, moving on (and we are going to skip a lot because Alexis C. Madrigal’s post is really a whole lot of nothing. Maybe someone — another editor, perhaps, if he can find the budget? — should have taken a look-see before he posted it, but that’s another story). Did you know that it’s ok to defend not paying people for work because Alexis C. Madrigal got paid NOTHING or NEXT TO NOTHING when he first started writing? But man, he did his best and he worked really hard and wrote for free here and there and now, well, look where he is! See? Maybe if YOU write for free and suck it up, YOU can be an editor at a major publication too!

 

Read the rest of the post on Wonkette, and also see People Writing for Free on the Internet Is an Enormous Boon to Society and Writing For Free Part II, both by Matthew Yglesias on Slate.

Simon & Schuster Is Trying To Bribe People Like Me…

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…to refer people like you to their new vanity imprint, Archway, which they formed in partnership with AuthorHouse (aka “ASI”) late last year. A couple of days ago, I received the following, kind of astonishingly brazen email from a Simon and Schuster staffer:

Simon & Schuster recently launched Archway Publishing as a new type ofoffering for self-publishing authors. With services delivered by Author Solutions, Archway was developed to help authors achieve their publishing goals and reach their desired audience. S&S has provided guidelines on book design, introduced certain unique self-publishing services, designed packages tailored to meet specific author objectives, and will monitor titles for potential acquisition.

Your blog is an important resource to help authors navigate the variety of self-publishing options. We believe Archway is a unique new service for authors, and would be valued by your readers. The Archway Affiliate Program enables partners to earn a $100 bounty for each author they refer who publishes with Archway*. Click here to learn more about the affiliate program. In addition, we’d like to extend to your audience a 10% discount off any Archway package, when referred though affiliate links on your site. We can also create contests, webinars, and creative for your site, or discuss other ways to work together.

[*emphasis added by me]

Note that when industry people write to me and make reference to my “blog”, they’re generally talking about Publetariat.com, not [my Indie Author] blog.

Anyway, it’s obvious that this person has zero familiarity with me, aside from the fact that I own and operate a site that’s very popular with writers, authors and publishing professionals. Anyone who bothered to peruse [my Indie Author] blog would’ve very quickly discovered there’s no way I’d ever sign on for such a thing, and I’d be inclined to publicize the offer.

After re-reading the email a couple of times to be sure I wasn’t misunderstanding anything, and giving myself a couple of days to put together a more reasoned (and less pissed off) response, I hit Reply on that email, and this is what I said:

I have always advised indie authors to avoid vanity publishers, and AuthorHouse is one of the most notorious among them. The reputation of AuthorHouse as an overpriced, under-performing scam agency far precedes its name. I have warned many a writer away from AH in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.

I am very disappointed to see such an august and respected publisher as S&S moving into this new, arguably predatory market area: pairing up a respected publisher with a vanity press to offer desperate would-be authors various, fee-based “services”—any of which the writer could retain him- or herself from freelancers at a fraction of the cost—and/or a publishing contract offering terms that virtually ensure the publisher will turn a profit, but the author will not. Surely the strongly negative reaction to Random House’s Hydra imprint hasn’t escaped your notice?

I’m also troubled by your affiliate offer, as I fear many others you’ve approached with the offer will accept it and be motivated to lure naive aspiring authors to Archway like so many lambs to slaughter. The mere fact that Archway can afford to pay affiliates a $100 “bounty” per referral attests to unnecessary fees your author-clients are being asked to shoulder. I have little doubt that bounty is being paid by the author who was referred, probably bundled together with many other fees under an innocuous, yet vague heading like “book set up”.

I am sorry to be so negative, and I understand you are not personally responsible for the existence of Archway. However, having been a supporter of indie authorship since the days when people scoffed at the possibility of brick and mortar bookstore chains failing, I’ve seen far too many companies like yours take advantage of far too many of my peers. To say I feel very strongly about this sort of thing is a gross understatement. Nevertheless, I am glad to have received your email for one reason: now that I am aware of Archway, I can warn others about it.

So if anyone on any site you frequent is starting to advertise Archway, referring site visitors to Archway, or running content or contests provided by Archway, in all likelihood it’s because that person said “yes” where I said “no”.

It would’ve been more honest for Archway to offer a “bounty” of thirty pieces of silver per referral, because anyone in the indie community who takes them up on this offer is a Judas.

This is a cross-posting from April L. Hamilton’s Indie Author Blog. 

Former Indie Author Jamie McGuire Penalized For Self-publishing?

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This post, by Sara Fawkes, originally appeared on her Erotica by Sara blog on 3/2/13.

Earlier this evening, during a break between edits for AHW6, I saw something on a Facebook page “What To Read After Fifty(50) Shades Of Grey” regarding Jamie McGuire, author of the indie (and now traditional) bestseller Beautiful Disaster:

** SPECIAL NOTE: Please Read This!! **

From Author Jamie McGuire:

I have looked into this as best I can, but being a Saturday, Amazon isn’t responding.

It appears that Amazon has sent a mass email to everyone who’s ever purchased the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster. They are encouraging readers to request a refund. When asked why they are offering this refund, Amazon customer service has given several different reasons, the most common is problems with content. THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE CONTENT OF BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, and it makes no sense for them to encourage a refund for a book that has already been read and enjoyed 6+ months later, but that is the only information I have for now.

Customer service admits that if you do NOT get the refund, your copy of BD will NOT be affected. If you get a refund, they are offering to reimburse the $4+ difference it costs to purchase the $7.99 version, but what they aren’t telling you is that **I** am paying for every refund.

Last week, I sent an email to Amazon asking why the self-published version of my book is still experiencing returns. Returns are only allowed for up to 7 days after purchase. 6 months after the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster went off-sale my account was still seeing negative amounts for returns. I’m not going to assume the reasons behind this mass email, but it appears that Amazon customer service is now encouraging these returns.

I was not notified of this. This email has nothing to do with my publisher Atria books. If you do not get a refund, your copy of BD will not be affected. If you do, the refund will show as a negative amount in my Amazon KDP author account. Because BD is no longer available, this money will be taken out of my Providence sales.

In other words, this is very bad, and I have no idea why this is happening. Please do not return your copy of BD, and please help me spread the word to not return your copy of BD.

I will let you know what else I find out from Amazon. In the meantime, your support has brought me to tears. I love you all. ♥

Well, you can imagine my shock at reading this. While I have yet to meet Ms. McGuire, she and I were fortunate enough to share similar career choices around the same time when our bestsellers were picked up by (separate) publishing companies. I won’t lie, I found this story difficult to believe; Amazon surely wouldn’t be this stupid, would it? I purchased BD as an indie book in 2011, long before the author signed a contract allowing the novel to receive a wider, worldwide distribution.

Yet, an hour ago, this is the email I received in my inbox:

 

Read the rest of the post on Sara Fawkes’ Erotica by Sara.

Legal Issues in Self-Publishing: What Authors Need to Know

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This article, by Bernard Starr, originally appeared on the Huffington Post Books blog on 12/24/12.

Self-publishing continues its exponential growth. More and more authors are choosing this route for presenting their work to the public, encouraged by impressive success stories, including accounts by bestselling writers who have moved over from traditional publishing to take advantage of greater profits and better control of their works.

But there is one domain that self-published authors rarely think about, which mainstream publishers have traditionally managed: legal issues.

If you self-publish, you are the publisher and thus assume all the legal responsibilities. At first this might seem frightening. But it doesn’t have to be, as I discovered in my interview with Paul Rapp, an attorney who specializes in intellectual property rights in Monterey, Mass. and teaches Art & Entertainment Law and Copyright Law at Albany (N.Y.) Law School. He also discusses copyright issues in publishing on Vox Pop on Northeast Public Radio.

Rapp says he is working increasingly with self-publishers and self-published authors. He cited the prominent legal issues that authors should pay attention to: The use of images, quotes, and other materials from copyrighted works, the use of public domain works, the amount of a published works that can be quoted, portrayals of real people in fictional works, the standards for portraying famous and non-famous persons, portrayals of real people in non-fictional works, and the importance of copyright registration.

Starr: Isn’t the provision of legal services an area where traditional publishing offers an edge to authors?

Rapp: The issues don’t go away whether you are publishing traditionally or self-publishing. While the legal department of a publishing house may assess the legal issues in a work and advise, or demand changes if necessary, that doesn’t release the author from responsibility. Every publishing agreement that I have ever seen has an indemnification clause in which the author agrees to hold the publisher harmless if there are claims against the publisher for any infringement or violation of personal rights. That being said, most publishers vet books before they go out and have insurance policies that cover most of these lawsuits; the insurers may also vet a manuscript prior to publication. But I think this is happening less and less, leaving the author exposed. And I’m seeing a lot of agreements that, particularly for non-fiction books, require the author, rather than the publisher, to get necessary permissions and licenses to use any third party material.

Starr: What advice do you have for self-publishing authors who have legal concerns?

 

Read the rest of the post on the Huffington Post Books blog.

Publetariat Hacked Again: A Call To Action

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Publetariat was brought down by yet another hacker attack this weekend, and Evernote reports hackers succeeded in breaching its site this weekend as well. While nothing on Publetariat was actually compromised, thanks to all the security updates applied following the last hacker attack in December of 2012, this attack’s brute force attempt to run multiple malicious scripts on the site overloaded the server and caused Publetariat’s host company to shut the site down. The attempt was traced to two suspicious user accounts, and those accounts have been deleted. But that’s not the end of the story, unfortunately.

Recall that following the 12/12 attack, all new user memberships were suspended, precisely because of the excessive demands of weeding out hacker / spammer registrations from legitimate ones. However, shutting down new registrations wasn’t enough, because it turns out there were already nefarious user accounts previously registered on the site. For security purposes, all user accounts were put under review over the weekend and any that looked suspicious for any reason were deleted. Since all site content is visible to anonymous site visitors, even if a few legitimate users were caught in that net, it shouldn’t have a seriously negative impact on most Publetariat visitors’ use of the site. Unfortunately, these are the lengths to which we are now forced to go in trying to thwart cyber attacks: we ALL suffer.

Remember, Publetariat doesn’t make any money, it’s an entirely volunteer effort, funded totally out of pocket by myself. These attacks make it more and more difficult to justify keeping the site going at all. This time, after the many hours of work spent getting the site back online and culling user accounts were over, I decided to do something more. From my Digital Media Mom site:

I am sick and effing tired of working months and years to build a site and grow an audience for that site, only to have a target painted on my back by spammers and hackers precisely BECAUSE my site has become successful (and heavily trafficked). Every time it happens, I ask myself if it’s worth all the bother to run my sites at all. And one of these days, when the damage done is severe enough, the answer to that question will be, “No.” And on that day, some valuable resources for writers and people who need tech help will be gone.

I think all organized spammer and hacker collectives should be prosecuted as terrorist organizations, just like any other collective that sets out to commandeer, attack or subvert a public utility. The internet has become a necessity of life in the developed world, no different from electricity, phone or sewer service. Any group that attacked THOSE services would be dealt with very severely. It should be no different for hackers and spammers who are sucking down untold millions of our productive work hours and valuable technology. Maybe if the punishment were severe enough, more of those pieces of human garbage would find less risky means of employment.

Sign my White House Petition if you agree, to ask the President to classify organized spammer and hacker groups as terrorist organizations for purposes of law enforcement and prosecution. The deadline to get 100k signatures is 4/2/13, so please share this link with anyone you know who would like to see this done: http://wh.gov/fWcw

And yes, of course I know many, if not most, of these collectives are operated from overseas, which makes them harder to find and prosecute. But this is no longer a mere annoyance, it’s a daily threat to our productivity, financial stability, and even national security. And again, if some foreign collective were to target a U.S. power grid, there would be no question of tracking that group down and bringing them to justice. Hackers and spammers are no better, and should be treated no less severely by international law enforcement agencies.

I’m asking all American citizens who use and value Publetariat to sign this petition, and share it with their social media networks. If 100k signatures are collected by 4/2/13, the White House is required to look at the petition and issue an official response: either that they are not going to take action and why, or that they are going to take action and how.

For those who are concerned that approval of such a petition would take valuable resources away from the fight against other types of terrorism: the White House has always prioritized all threats to the nation, and it will always do so in the future. Hackers and spammers will usually be pretty far down the list, but having them classified as terrorists gives international law enforcement agencies more and better tools to track them down and subjects them to much stiffer penalties when they are caught.

Note that I include organized spammer collectives in this petition because they now regularly employ hacker tactics. Spammers waste millions of man-hours of website administration staff effort all over the world in finding and deleting their fake comments, fake user accounts and unwanted links. They waste millions of man-hours that belong to the general public, too; how many hours have you wasted over the past month deleting spam from your email inbox, your Facebook pages, your author sites and blogs and your Twitter account? Spammers have made hijacking our tech resources for purposes of inflicting unwanted advertising a for-profit business model. They infiltrate sites like a swarm of despised parasites, and are no more welcome than their hacker brethren.

Hackers and spammers continue to proliferate and make all our lives miserable in a multitude of tiny ways because it’s very easy and mostly consequence-free. They have automated scripts they can unleash online to seek out vulnerable sites, email accounts and devices. They have automated systems in place that make it difficult to trace the source of those scripts. And when their destructive handiwork is discovered, site, computer and device owners have to invest many hours of effort —and sometimes considerable amounts of cash, too— to undo the damage, but no harm befalls the criminals who caused all the trouble in the first place because we’ve largely adopted a “whaddyagonnado?” attitude about it. Even if we can find them, it’s nearly impossible to successfully prosecute them under existing civil and criminal statutes.

Maybe if those criminals were facing the much more draconian penalties facing other terrorists, and if the government were empowered to use the same tools employed in tracking down terrorists to track down organized hacker and spammer collectives, would-be and existing hackers would start looking for a new line of work.

The more connected our society gets, the more this problem is going to snowball. Now is the time to take action. Please sign the petition, and share it with everyone you know who’s just as sick of spam and hacker attacks as I am. The direct link to the petition is http://wh.gov/fWcw .

 

Second-Class Contracts? Deal Terms at Random House's Hydra Imprint

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This post, by Victoria Strauss, originally appeared on Writer Beware on 2/28/13.

Over the past few years, more and more trade publishers have created digital-only imprints. Another new one just popped up in my newsfeed today: Little, Brown UK’s Blackfriars will be launching its first list this coming June.

Last November, there was some excitement over three brand new digital imprints from Random House: Hydra for SF/fantasy, Alibi for mysteries and thrillers, and Flirt for the is-it-or-isn’t-it category of New Adult. I was interested by the fact that these new lines were pitched in language reminiscent of self-publishing services:

Under this program, authors will have a complete and unique publishing package. Every book will be assigned to an accomplished Random House editor and a dedicated publicist. They will also have the invaluable support of Random House’s experienced marketing and digital sales teams, who know how to reach out to and expand each book’s dedicated readership. Not only will authors benefit from working with the finest cover designers to ensure irresistibly eye-catching books, but they will also be offered the unique advantage of social media tools and training that will allow them to connect directly with their readers. To reach the widest possible readership, every title will be available for purchase at major e-retailers and will be compatible with all reading devices.

I wasn’t alone in this impression–much of the news coverage of the new imprints speculated that Random House was attempting to snag self-publishers, what with the imprints’ focus on short content, their willingness to accept previously-published books, and their literary-agent-optional submission procedure.

Authors who are accepted by Hydra and the others will have access to professional editors and designers, and will benefit from Random House’s publicity team–just as with conventional imprints. If they desire the prestige of being able to say they’re published by Random House, they’ll have that too.

Even so, I can’t help feeling that, with digital-only or digital-mostly imprints, print-based publishers are offering a kind of second-class publication.

Read the rest of the post on Writer Beware.

The Slippery Slope of E-Originals, Part 1

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This post, by Richard Curtis, originally appeared on Digital Book World on 10/14/12.

In the last year a number of major publishers have begun offering authors contracts for “e-originals” – books released originally – and exclusively – in e-book format. Though this is a logical step in the evolution of traditional publishing houses from tangible to virtual formats, the deflationary nature of its business model poses a serious threat to author earning power. Less obvious but ultimately more dangerous is the implosive effect the shift may have on the publishing companies themselves and the people who work for them.

What’s Wrong with Paperback Originals?

The first and obvious question is, what’s wrong with paperbacks books, that publishers are abandoning them in favor of digital originals? The fact is that in the past fifteen or twenty years, mass market paperback books have transformed from a breeding ground for fresh talent to an exclusive club for bestselling authors.

The reasons for this metamorphosis are complex (you can read about them in The Rise and Fall of the Mass Market Paperback: Part 1, Part 2), but in essence the ruthless math of an industry based on the returnability of books has made it almost impossible for fresh talent to develop over time in the nursery of original paperbacks. Though many promising genre authors, especially romance writers, continue to be introduced in mass market paperback, the sales thresholds they must achieve in order to make a profit for their publishers have risen to almost unattainable heights.

Cue e-book originals.

At first blush, e-originals appear to be the perfect way for publishers to pull authors out of this death spiral, for many of the costs of manufacturing and distribution are lower or negligible. You would think that the savings would be passed along to authors in the form of higher advances and royalties. So far, that has proven far from true. Why?

Read the rest of the post on Digital Book World, and also see Part 2.

What's the Best Way for Authors to Use Twitter?

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Twitter can be a great networking tool, but many authors wonder about the most effective ways to use it. Here are some common questions:

How often should I tweet?

It’s best to post several tweets a day, but it is hard to say what is the optimum frequency. Personally, I would like to post 5 to 10 times a day. Some people post several times an hour and repeat the same posts frequently, but that takes a lot of time and it may annoy your followers. And it’s not a good idea to post unless you have something interesting to say.

As each new tweet appears at the top of people’s home page, it pushes the earlier ones down a notch. Most people probably don’t read beyond the first page when they log onto Twitter. If you make several posts at once, they will all be bunched together on your follower’s screen. But if that person doesn’t happen to be on Twitter at that time, they might not see any of your tweets if they have already been pushed beyond the first page. If you make several posts spaced out during the day, it’s more likely that one or more of them will be seen.

You can save time by using a scheduling service such as HootSuite (the service I use) or SocialOomph (formerly TweetLater) to pre-schedule your posts on Twitter and other social networks. HootSuite is free but you can pay a modest monthly fee to be able to upload pre-scheduled tweets in a spreadsheet.

What can authors tweet about?

Most of your tweets should be about sharing and interacting with others, but it’s fine to make occasional promotional posts. Here are 7 ideas for tweeting:

1. Link to helpful or entertaining books, articles, websites, and blog posts. Add your own comments or ask for feedback.
2. Re-tweet good posts by other people, but don’t go overboard—most of your tweets should be original. Include “RT” and the original tweeter’s name in your post to indicate that you’re re-tweeting someone else’s post.
3. Invite people to subscribe to your ezine or blog, and offer an incentive.
4. Announce your live and virtual events, such as book tours and teleseminars.5. Ask for advice or ask questions that encourage responses.6. Introduce other authors or experts in your field who are also on Twitter.

7. Post an inspirational quote or message.

For more information on using Twitter most effectively for book promotion, see Twitter Guide for Authors.

Your turn: What do you tweet about? What is the most effective ways for authors to use Twitter? Please share in the comments section [on the original post].
 

This is a reprint from Dana Lynn Smith‘s The Savvy Book Marketer.

Are You Making This HUGE Book Marketing Mistake?

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I *hate* greeting card shopping.

Recently, I popped into my local CVS to grab a Valentine’s Day card for my niece.

It started out as a positive experience. I approached the sparkling red and white display of Valentine’s cards with a smile on my face, imagining how excited my niece would be when she received a special note from her (favorite) aunt in the mail.

I picked up the first card that caught my eye because it had a cute puppy on it.

Then I checked out another with sparkly hearts.

I picked up one with flowers and one with a cute poem. I grabbed another with a Charlie Brown cartoon and opened another one with a teddy bear. I checked out one with Minnie Mouse and one with a rainbow and at least three others with more sparkly hearts.

Pretty soon, I’d gone through every card in the kids’ Valentine section — at least 30 cards in all.

I didn’t hate any of them and I didn’t love any of them, but I was overwhelmed by all of them.

Too many choices!

Frustrated that I couldn’t decide on a card, I stomped out of the store in a huff.

Whether it’s greeting cards or shampoo (Which one will really make my hair all shiny and flouncy like the girl in the commercial?) or cereal or car insurance, having lots of choices does not always make us happy customers.

So why do we do it to our readers?

I’m talking about a very specific mistake I’ve seen a lot of authors make (and truth be told, I used to make it myself).

You give your readers too many choices for buying your book.

Here’s how it happens:

You publish your book and pay for the additional distribution package (as you should). Now your title is available all over the web — at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, etc.

And that’s just the paperback.

Add in your eBook options (the aforementioned three plus Smashwords, iTunes, Kobo, etc.) and suddenly you’ve given your readers 9 – 10 choices to make before they can purchase your book.

What’s wrong with choices?

We’ve been conditioned to think that more is always better — especially when it comes to options, right?

A few years ago, a social psychology graduate student conducted an experiment at her local market that proved exactly the opposite.

She set up a sample stand of jams and alternated between offering customers 6 and 24 varieties of jam. She discovered that even though the 24 choices attracted more attention, only 3% of people who stopped made a purchase, but when she displayed only 6 choices, customers bought jam 30% of the time. [Read more about the study here]

I’m pretty terrible at math, but even I can tell you there’s a significant difference between 3% and 30%.

How does that translate to book sales?

If your website lists 9 – 10 options for readers to pick where they should buy your book, you are losing sales.

I guarantee it.

You’re forcing readers to not only make the decision to buy your book, but then to weigh the pros and cons of each retailer before deciding where to make their purchase. As they analyze their choices, readers often find themselves in “analysis paralysis.”

They become overwhelmed and they make the easiest decision of them all — they choose not to buy anything.

So how do you fix analysis paralysis?

You should have one paperback choice and two eBook options. That’s it.

And I’ll tell you something else — your paperback choice should be Amazon. Not only is it the most popular online bookseller, it has the best shipping options, which is an important factor in the cost of your book.

For eBooks, I would strongly suggest Amazon and Smashwords (Obviously if you’re doing KDP Select you will only have one option!).

The reason we can offer two options in the eBook category is because we don’t have one universal format for eBooks just yet, so you can cover your bases with the most popular option (Amazon) and offer the rest of the available formats via Smashwords.

STOP! Really important point coming in 3…2…1…

Please note: I am *not* saying you shouldn’t have your books distributed to other retailers.

I’m saying you should limit the purchase options you give readers on your website and your social media networks.

It’s fine to have your books available on Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Kobo and the rest. You never know when someone might be searching through titles on any of those sites and come across yours.

But where your marketing plan is concerned, you should avoid overwhelming your readers with too many options.

As an added bonus, driving your readers to three specific places will save you time when choosing links to share on Twitter, Facebook, in your Media Kit, etc.

What do you think?

  • Do you get overwhelmed when you have to make too many decisions for a purchase?
  • How many purchase options do you offer readers?
  • Have you recently reduced your purchase options and noticed a difference in sales?

 

This is a reprint from the Duolit blog.

Ann Voss Peterson's Big Regret

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This post originally appeared on J.A. Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.

Joe sez: And now a word from my frequent collaborator and good friend, Ann Voss Peterson…

Ann: Last May I wrote a guest blog here about my decision to stop writing for my publisher (Harlequin) and self-publish my new thriller instead of submitting it to traditional publishers. In the piece, I shared terms of my publishing contracts and showed how those terms translated into money, using one of my books as an example. I did this not as a complaint, but to give other authors–some who might be thinking of writing for Harlequin–a look at how the numbers stack up.

Plenty of people weighed in on this blog and others, both in support of my decision and criticizing it (some of whom didn’t even bother to read the post).

So the question is, after nine months, do I regret my decision?

Let me share some numbers:

Last May 8 through 12 using KDP Select, I gave away 75,420 copies of Pushed Too Far.

In May and June, I sold 11,564 copies, netting me $22,316.30.

I also had 874 borrows during this time for another $1902.30.

So in a bit over six weeks, Pushed Too Far earned $24,218.60 and was downloaded onto 87,858 e-readers. My highest earning Harlequin Intrigue earned me $21,942.16 in the last twelve years.

Verdict: In less than two months, Pushed Too Far became my highest earning book. EVER.

As Joe has said many times, sales ebb and flow, and PTF has been no different. But for May through December of 2012, this one book (Pushed Too Far) has had a grand total of 15,257 (paid) sales and borrows, netting me around $31,179.03.

Of course there’s no guarantee. I’ve known authors who have done better. I’ve known authors who’ve done worse. But the question is, do I regret my decision to self-publish?

Are you kidding?

I regret I didn’t do it sooner.
 

Read the rest of the post on A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.

The Free Kindle Book Ride May Be Over

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This is a cross-posting from Publetariat founder and Editor In Chief April L. Hamilton’s Indie Author Blog.

Many authors have been taking advantage of the Amazon KDP Free Book promo option ever since KDP Select was rolled out, and many a bookish website and blog has sprung up specifically around promotion of free Kindle books.

All of that may be about to change, thanks to an Amazon Associates agreement revision that’s set to take effect March 1 of this year:


March 1, 2013 version
The following is added at the end of the sub-section:

“In addition, notwithstanding the advertising fee rates described on this page or anything to the contrary contained in this Operating Agreement, if we determine you are primarily promoting free Kindle eBooks (i.e., eBooks for which the customer purchase price is $0.00), YOU WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO EARN ANY ADVERTISING FEES DURING ANY MONTH IN WHICH YOU MEET THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:
(a) 20,000 or more free Kindle eBooks are ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links; and
(b) At least 80% of all Kindle eBooks ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links are free Kindle eBooks.”

A Little Background On Amazon’s Associates Program

Amazon Associates program participants can provide a link to virtually any page or product on Amazon (including links to free Kindle books) with their Associate ID attached to it, and that ID piggybacks on most purchases the customer makes on the Amazon site during the same shopping session. So Associates have historically had an incentive to share ANY Amazon link, including links to free Kindle books.

If anything, links to free Kindle books have been very desirable for Associates program participants to use because shoppers’ resistance to clicking through on such links is low: the product in question is free, after all. But very often, once on the Amazon site, the customer will start browsing or will think of some other item they’ve been meaning to buy, and commissions for those purchases are paid to the Associate whose ID first brought the customer to Amazon.

Possible Chilling Effects of the Associates Policy Change

There are two factors to consider when trying to forecast possible outcomes of this change:

1. This new policy puts ALL of a given Associate account holder’s commissions at risk in any month where “sales” of free Kindle books from that Associate’s links are high.

2. With this new policy, authors and Associate link / promo providers who used to have the common goal of maximizing click-throughs on free Kindle books are set in opposition to one another. The author still wants to maximize downloads during the free promo period, but the more free downloads are generated, the greater the risk that the Associate link provider will lose all of his commissions for the month.

In my opinion, this will be a pretty effective discouragement for many Associates to promote free Kindle books. Even if the bar for commission loss is set pretty high (both of the above-quoted conditions must be met for a given month’s commissions to be forfeited), the mere possibility of commission loss may steer many Associates away from continuing to promote free Kindle books.

What’s Amazon Up To?

This policy revision speaks to some business changes on Amazon’s end.

Amazon is surely aware that the free Kindle promo option has been a major driver in getting authors to sign up for their KDP Select program, but recent changes to Amazon’s book sales rank algorithm have drastically reduced the formerly positive effects of large numbers of free downloads. While a given book’s sales rank isn’t exactly penalized for free downloads, free downloads are no longer driving the kinds of sales rank leaps and bounds that drew authors to take advantage of free book promo periods in the first place.

Now add the disincentive for Associates to promote free books, and it definitely starts looking like Amazon is moving to discourage publishers and authors from offering their Kindle books for free.

Has Amazon Finally Turned On Indies, As So Many Predicted Would Happen?

Since the great majority of authors and publishers who have been willing to offer their Kindle books for free are indies, some may conclude this is some kind of long-planned attack from Amazon on indies in general, but I doubt it.

Sales rank algorithm changes levelled the sales rank playing field again to a great extent, but maybe sales rank integrity wasn’t all that was troubling Amazon. Maybe Amazon never anticipated how popular and widespread free book promotions would become, and how large a percentage of their monthly Kindle book “sales” in any given month would eventually come to consist of free downloads. Every free Kindle download represents a loss to Amazon, since Amazon is absorbing overhead costs to host and sell the book but isn’t earning any profit on it.

Given that Amazon only earns money on downloads of Kindle books people are actually paying for, I think the most obvious and simple answer is the correct one:

Amazon is tired of losing money on free book downloads.

But once the genie was out of the bottle and indies everywhere had made free downloads an entrenched part of best practices for any new Kindle book launch or promotion, nobody outside of Amazon or mainstream publishing was motivated to stop the runaway freight train of free Kindle books.

Even indie authors and publishers who don’t want to offer free promo periods have felt pressured to do so, since others who did offer their books for free have sometimes seen such great results.

You May Have To Start Making Money On Every Kindle Book Download, Whether You Like It Or Not

I can only speculate about the long-term impacts of this most recent policy change, but after thinking it over I’ve concluded that in the end, it’s probably a good thing. The change gives indies a good, solid business reason to move away from offering their Kindle books for free; what’s that old expression, about how a rising tide lifts all boats?

When the majority of us are selling our books at a price instead of giving them away, the majority of us will be making money on every download.

When free Kindle books become the exception instead of the rule, book buyers will stop ‘waiting till it’s free’ or even having an expectation that a given book should be free. I was never one of those who backed the ‘devaluation of books and literature’ argument, I’ve always thought that within reason, ethics and the law, any promotional tack that gets an indie author more exposure and sales is worth trying. Even so, I think the prevalence of free Kindle books has shaped—some might say distorted, or even dominated—the ebook market in ways that few predicted, and it has ultimately hurt indies overall more than it has helped most of us.

The former, nearly guaranteed sales rank boost one could expect from a free promo period is all but gone, thanks to algorithm changes. Yet many have continued to cling to the free promo gambit like a drowning man to a piece of driftwood, because it has worked for so many authors in the past.

In the face of the very daunting book launch and promo task, a free book promo was at least something an indie could do pretty easily to get his or her book in front of as many eyeballs as possible, and an easy “in” to book blogs and sites. Like I said before, a free product is an easy “sell”. And if most customers who were taking advantage of those free promo downloads were actually just book hoarders, collecting but never actually reading hundreds of free titles, well, most of us preferred not to think about it.

Amazon may be trying to force authors, publishers and book bloggers alike to stop offering and promoting free Kindle books, but in so doing they’re forcing us in the direction of more profit for everyone. It’s hard for me to see that as anything but a positive development.