I am convinced we ePublished authors are exponentially busier than our New York published counterparts. And nothing you can say will convince me otherwise.
I just had this thought, and you know what, it's really true. When you get published with New York (the big print magnates), you write your book, you sell your book, your book is put in the print schedule (maybe a year or two out), you promote for those "empty" months, your book comes out, you do talks, chats, maybe go to a seminar, have a booksigning, etc. Yes, sounds like a busy author. And I'm sure they are. But that is for ONE book.
Now granted, that book will *probably* make more $$ than an eBook. However, even your popular authors, the ones who have a bajillion books, rarely have two books out in one year. If they're really prolific, they'll have one book a year or so. If I'm wrong, let me know, but I'm pretty sure they don't. And perhaps that's due to marketing and wanting to spend ample time on promoting the book and such.
Now, let's take a look at the life of an ePublished author. Oh, let's take me for example. LOL
I was first published in January of 2005. So in the grand scheme of things, I'm a newbie to it all. In 2005, I had EIGHT books released. Talk about going from zero to OH MY GAWD! Now, this *was* between three different publishers. The next year, 2006, was a much tamer year, seeing only three releases, and one of those was a re-release. However, THIS year, 2007, I'm at it again, having already seen FOUR books released, with another FOUR before the year is out. And on top of all that, I'm promoting older books that are just now making their way into print.
Talk about a crazy schedule. And I'm EVERYWHERE. Gather. MySpace. FaceBook. Bebo. Blogs. Google Groups. Yahoo Groups. ACK!
True, when you have a bajillion books out, it is harder to promote one single title over the next, however, I believe e-authors need to work harder for what New York authors already have. Money. E-authors rarely get advances. And if we do, they're usually nothing to dance and sing about. At least not while these companies remain small.
I believe we e-authors MUST work harder, because our audience is smaller. You have GOT to churn out book after book just to stay on top of your game because everyone else is doing it too. And you have to do it in order to make some kind of "living", if you can call it that. lol You're only going to have a limited bunch of people buying your books, so when a book gets older (which in the electronic world means a couple of months), it stops being popular. You've got to write the next best seller.
Next year, I have two confirmed contracts (because I've signed them already), and the prospect of many more books that might be published (I need to finish them first before I hand them in for consideration to my editor).
Crazy, ain't it? I've thought about trying to break into New York lately, but after two and a half years of chaos, I'm not sure I could "handle" the snail's pace of the Big Boys. That's not to say I won't ever submit to them (lol) but I enjoy being ePublished. And honestly, I *have* to be. I'm so dang prolific, I have WAY too many stories for New York! :P I'd be slated into 2050 if I got my foot in the door there.
A lot of people will argue that when you churn out the books, a novel factory, if you will (lol), that the quality of the story goes down the crapper. I beg to differ. The LENGTH of time it takes you to write a book doesn't automatically equal how great or wonderful the book will be. One of my books was sent back to me by my editor EIGHT times. I was so sick of that dang book I was ready to chuck my computer out the window! But my editor refused to let it through without fixing whatever problems it had.
Sure, some electronic publishing houses might not be as "polished" as the Big Boys, but I believe the houses *I'm* with, specifically http://www.samhainpublishing.com and http://www.champagnebooks.com are very professional in what they will allow their name to be put on. They're all about quality. And I believe they will go far because of it.
You can be the judge of whether or not my stories aren't as good as they *could* be simply because I churn them out. But I'm telling you right now, I'm having the time of my life, and even though my life is a crazy, upside down cauldron of chaos, I wouldn't change it for the world. This is what I've always wanted to do. It's what I feel called to do. Anyone read The Purpose-Driven Life? I feel like being a writer is my Purpose.
And I'm having a freaking blast.
~~Becka
rate
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 17
You are doing fabulously!
And I'm having a freaking blast."
that is awesome
Some people might think it's crazy to become electronically published. You work for peanuts AND you're tearing out your hair at all the chaos? It's insanity! lol
Which is one of the reasons you've got to go into it because you love what you do, not because you're trying to get rich. Because I'll tell ya, being published is a cut-throat world and you've got to fight to make your royalties. The more you make a name for yourself, the bigger your paychecks will become.
And "POD" isn't quite the four-letter word it's been known as in the past. Yes, my publishers do print-on-demand, but they go through Lightning Source, which is a branch of Ingrams, one of the biggest names in book distribution. And because they go through Ingrams, their books can and will be ordered by bookstores, available on the shelves.
I challenge you to go to your local Borders bookstore--wherever you live. Go to the romance section. Borders usually has a section for trade paperback-sized romance novels. Look specifically for books from "Samhain Publishing". Their logo looks like this:
<center>
Tell me how many you find. Then come back and tell me I'm not a "real" author. :) What, exactly, does it take to become a real author? Money in the bank? Or physical, printed books on a bookstore shelf? You tell me.
It's called THE WOLVERINE AND THE ROSE, and it's on Amazon.com right now for Pre-Order. :)
And I didn't mean to sound offended, Kenneth. I'm not at all. I just find the "not a real author" argument amusing. Is the guy who builds tugboats for a living any less a ship builder than the guy who builds cruise ships?
"Why spend your time building silly tugboats when you can build a REAL boat?" lol Is a tugboat not a real boat? Is an eBook not real book? Sure, you can't hold it in the tub or in bed or take it on your camping trip. But the same amount of time was spent in front of the computer to write it, edit it, and promote it that the NY authors do. It's just in a different format. Like an audiobook.
But ebooks aside, that's not all my publishers do, as they also do print, as I indicated in my above post. :)
~~Becka
I'm very impressed. You should try to get an agent in NY. Join the Romance Writers of America if you haven't already and check out http://www.agentquery.com for the most complete up-to-date list of agents anywhere. You can click on your genre and a list of agents who only handle romance will come up.
Check out my blogs for additional helpful links and advice at:
http://aspnovelist.blogspot.com and http://writersedgeinfo.blogspot.com
Lots of luck!
Thanks for the buidup on ebooks. My publisher also releases in ebook format first, before going to print. Your post is exactly correct, however, there is a new-fangled invention called an e-book reader where the owner can download as much as 50 books to that little gadget, which is the size of a trade paperback book. These e-book readers are getting more and more sophisticated as the years rush by. I don't have one, but authors I know who do love them. Even if I presently only have two books in print with one coming out in the next few months, I have nine published as ebooks. two of which are re-released from so-called "traditional" publishers who are no longer in business. It happens even to the best of them. My present publisher is a small press publisher, but they are just as traditional as the big guys are...and perhaps a lot more considerate. As to agents, I have had three, and finally decided to approach the publishers on my own. Thankfully, I no longer feel the need for an agent. As of now, I am close to finishing my tenth novel, while working on one that could turn out to be a series. I don't know, I haven't reached that point yet. Will it be or not? Right now? The answer to that is in the wind. Take care and congratulations on your wonderful achievements.
Best,
Elena
Elena Dorothy Bowman
************************************
Journey to the Rim of Space and Beyond
http://elenadb.home.comcast.net
http://www.myspace.com/elenabowmanauthor
http://elenadorothybowmansbooks.blogspot.com/
e-mail: elenadb@comcast.net
You certainly could. I know bigger NY publishers are going to ebooks. Go to this website: http://www.fictionwise.com
If you poke around, you'll find all sorts of publishers, not just small-time presses. Everyone wants to jump on the e-book bandwagon. FictionWise is to ebooks what Amazon.com is for print books. If you're an e-book reader, chances are, you've heard of this site.
The only thing I've "heard" (I quote that because I can't directly confirm it isn't just hearsay) is that the NY pubs only give you the same amount of royalties on ebooks as they do for print. Between 5-10%. However, ePublishers who specialize in ebooks give you anywhere from 30-50% royalties. Yes, you could potentially see $2.50 from every $5.00 book you sell.
So while it's always nice to explore new avenues, be sure to do your homework before signing on the dotted line. :)
~~Becka
You have more energy than moi, and they say I'm nuts ;-)
Oh well....
I think you are showing that publishing is morphing into many forms; many of which don't go through the 'regular' channels. Its a wild time for everyone.....and kinda scary for folks who have spent years on a book, and are fearful of having it minimized by 'upproven' methods.....meanwhile waiting years for nothing. Reminds one of an old maid, eh? Maybe we should all be a little bit more adventuresome, eh? Good luck in your efforts....I expect they will pay off. It takes time to build a rep, but ultimately worth it.
:-)