Great Awards Don't Mean Great Sales

Did you read the surprising and somewhat depressing article in the Christian Science Monitor this week about Pulitzer Prize (PP) winning books? Due to low sales, one of this year’s winners, Devil in the Grove, (a nonfiction work) was scheduled for liquidation by HarperCollins. In fact, the book was already remaindered by the time the winners were announced. However, as the article points out, winning a Pulitzer Prize doesn’t necessarily mean the book will start generating lots of sales.

Two weeks after the 2013 winners were announced, all five books had increased sales, but you won’t believe the numbers. Embers of War by Fredik Logevall had sold 40 copies before the nominations. His sales jumped to 353 afterward. The Black Count by Tom Reiss went from 135 copies to 501, and Sharon Old’s Stag Leap went from 51 copies to 492. Are you getting the grim picture here? Apparently, all of these books received terrific reviews, while a runaway bestseller like Fifty Shades of Gray didn’t.

I don’t know if this is a growing trend, or whether Pulitzer nominees have traditionally sold poorly. Perhaps nominated books used to do much better, but the rising popularity of genre work has changed the public’s reading tastes. Whatever the reason, it’s an interesting commentary on the publishing industry, buying trends, and the usefulness awards to a writer’s income. I wonder if award winners in mystery, thriller, and fantasy categories have also experienced a less than dazzling spike in sales after they’ve won. To read the article, go to http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0430/Pulitzer-Prize-huge-sales-neither-required-nor-guaranteed

Is DRM Hurting Ebook Sales?

A couple of years ago, people were advising those new to ebook publishing to use Digital Rights Management (DRM), a technology(ies) designed to protect their books from copyright infringement. However, as the music world has already discovered, the plan appears to have backfired big time. In fact, an article in TechDirt states that it is almost unfathomable why any publisher would use DRM at all.

Simply put, DRM limits the use of digital content after it’s been sold. In other words, no one can mess around with the work. In fact, it apparently can’t even be backed up. Amazon, Sony, and Apple are just three companies using DRM to protect  content, but an article in TechDirt claims that not only has DRM proven to be a bad idea, it is actually hurting sales. The limited use of a product consumers have paid for has ticked off many readers so much that they refuse to buy any DRM ebook.

Consumers have a point. If you buy a print book, you can share it with as many people as you want. Not so with a DRM ebook. DRM was supposed to curtail piracy, however, given the many numbers of authors whose DRM books have been pirated, it’s a colossal failure. If computer savvy people want a free book, they’ll find a way to get it, and there are now plenty of websites out there offering free copies of someone else’s book. One certainly doesn’t have to be famous, to have sold well, or have a high price point on their book to be subjected to piracy.

But here’s an interesting thing. TechDirt reports that Tor Books, who went DRM free nearly a year ago, found no marked increase in piracy at all. So, why wouldn’t more publishers choose this option, especially if it means gaining loyal customers? When you go to the blog, read the comments below and you’ll see just how anti-DRM people are. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130430/22322922899/tor-books-uk-says-ditching-drm-showed-no-increase-piracy.shtml

Pick a Flower and See What Ebook You Won!

Second Wind Publishing is celebrating May with a giveaway. Pick a flower and win a free ebook from Second Wind Publishing! Each number represents a Second Wind novel — even numbers for romance and chick lit; odd numbers for mystery, mainstream, and adventure. So, do you feel lucky? Go the the Second Wind blog (just click on the photo) and follow the directions. You won’t get a real flower, of course, since they are only virtual, but you will get a coupon for a free ebook in the format of your choice. (You need to post the number on the Second Wind blog, or else you won’t get your free ebook.)

Best of luck to you!

Offer ends May 15, 2013.

When is a Book Not a Book?

Several months ago, a well-known writer (possibly Joe Konrath or Dean Wesley Smith, I can’t remember which) wrote a how-to blog about breaking into self-publishing ebooks. One tip was to start small by publishing short fiction as a way of learning the business, including proper formatting and price points, etc. A number of folks have done exactly this in a variety of genres, however, Amazon recently announced that it’s pulling any ebook that is 2,500 words or less. The reason they give is that the book is proving to be an unsatisfying reading experience for consumers.

So, a couple of things here. If a writer has created a work of fiction that is 2,500 words or less, it is not a book, it is a short story, and should be marketed as such. However, since all electronically published works of fiction and nonfiction, regardless of length, are called e-books, this apparently has created dissatisfaction among consumers who feel cheated by the lack of pages. Hmm.

If the complaint truly is about the length of the work, why aren’t consumers paying more attention to the information about the ebook on its home page? All four of my books state the number of pages and make it clear that the pages are numbered.

So, is there more to Amazon’s decision to pull short fiction? As one writer pointed out on a Kindleboards forum, a sizable percentage of the short fiction in question happens to be erotica. Some writers are wondering if this is Amazon’s way of purging certain content from their inventory?

Amazon’s letter to one author appears in the GalleyCat blog, which you may find of interest at

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/amazon-cracks-down-on-kindle-books-under-2500-words_b69390

Whatever Amazon’s reason for the change (Amazon likes to change things up a lot), it’s useful information for those of us who are thinking about publishing original short fiction in ebook formats. I can’t help wondering, though, if Amazon will change the rules to 5,000 words next month, or 10,000 the month after that?

Arthur Ellis Award Nominees Announced!

On Thursday night, several cities across the country hosted entertaining events to announce this year’s Arthur Ellis Award Nominees. For those who don’t know, these awards are sponsored by Crime Writers of Canada, and were created nearly thirty years ago to celebrate excellence in Canadian crime writing. This year we are fortunate, not to mention grateful, for the following media coverage: 

From the Regina Leaderpost: http://www.leaderpost.com/entertainment/Finalists+unveiled+Arthur+Ellis+Awards+honouring+Canadian+crime/8267867/story.html?

From the National Post:

http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/04/19/finalists-for-arthur-ellis-awards-announced/

From the CBC:

http://www.cbc.ca/books/2013/04/arthur-ellis-awards-the-shortlisted-authors.html

The Vancouver Sun also printed a piece, and there might well be others. The list of nominees is posted on the Crime Writers of Canada website at www.crimewriterscanada.com If you are a fan of mysteries, I would encourage you to visit the website to find out where your favorite authors will be appearing. Authors post their appearances regularly and there are plenty of events to choose from.

Because there are eight categories, I won’t list all of the nominees here, but I will say that all nominations are for books published in 2012, with the exception of the “Unhanged Author” category, which is for the best unpublished novel. Other categories include Best Novel, Best First Novel, Best French Crime Book, Best Short Story, Best Non-Fiction Book, Best Juvenile/YA Novel and the newly created (on a 3-year trial basis) Best Novella.

For those of you who write mysteries, please bookmark CWC’s website for contest guidelines and deadlines. The website is a wealth of information for fans and writers alike.

The winners will be announced on May 30^th at a Gala in Toronto and I’m sure it will be an exciting night!

Preparing for @StoryADayMay

I've done it. I've signed up to write a story every one of the 31 days of May. Who waved this shiny temptation in front of me? Story A Day Extreme Writing Challenge, appropriately enough.

When I tell people I've done this, they ask me if I'm doing any preparatory work. I say, "Not really." Now I'm going to tell you what that means.

"Are you collecting ideas?" Dear hearts, I have a binder this thick of ideas I've scribbled down, false starts that didn't lead anywhere, characters/settings/situations/dialog I haven't used, and informational pamphlets on things not pertinent to my actual life. Some are even organized.

 

"Are you starting anything to be on the mark when it happens?" I've created a folder on my computer for the stories and saved 31 blank documents named 01.doc through 31.doc. Each day, I'll open a file, type in one of my bits from my bits binder or, if I start with something longish, an abstract of it, and I'll write. 

"They don't say how LONG it has to be, ha ha!" True. I like writing flash fiction, so I won't be surprised if I end up with some flash. Not micro-mini flash, like my Hot Flashes, because they take too long, but maybe 100-500 words. I also won't be surprised if I end up with stuff that leaves the reader hanging, or that read more like synopses. Those will just serve as structures for longer stories later. 

"They don't say it has to be GOOD, ha ha!" True. This is always a risk a writer runs in writing anything. The good part is, if a writer falls off the tightrope, somebody else gets a broken neck.

"What if you fail?" Same question I got asked when I did NaNoWriMo. Same answer: I can't fail. Even if I don't meet the challenge, I will have written more than if I hadn't tried. And just getting revved up for it is pumping up my writer's particular endorphins, and that's always a good thing. :)

So, long story short (I know: "Too late!"), I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

See you in May!

Marian Allen
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