Time to Write

People DO judge a book by its cover - 3 bad examples

The stigma of self-publishing and assisted publishing (in which you pay a publisher to produce your book) is long gone. Many good and successful books have been self-published both traditionally and as ebooks. But one thing that seems to have persisted is the tradition of terrible covers.

People DO judge a book by its cover. If the cover is not inviting, they are unlikely to check out the rest of it.

I hope I'm not being cruel by including these three examples. Just to be clear, I'm not saying these books are bad in any way other than their cover design.  Their content may well be brilliant but I find the covers a turn-off. Let's take a look:

Any idea what this one might be about?

No, me neither.

It's actually a science fiction thriller. 

Less can be more, but in this case, it's less.

It reminds me of the joke, "Not only is the food terrible, the portions are way too small." In this case, not only is the type boring, it's way too small.

 

 

 

 

At least the title of this one gives you some clue as to the genre, but since the protagonist is an 11-year-old boy I assume it's geared to young readers. Do you think they'd be curious to turn to the first page?

Could the designer have made the secondary print any smaller? It says, "A boy trying to find his meaning in the universe unexpectedly saves it." Not a bad logline. Too bad you need a magnifying glass to read it. Ditto for the line telling us this is "The First Book in the Secret Agent Series."

 

 

Didn't ANYBODY notice that the image makes it hard to read the title and the name of the author? Making the text white would have solved that, although it wouldn't have made it a good cover.

Based on the title ("To Slight the Jacket Blue") and image, what kind of book do you think this is? 

My guess was poetry.

The blurb is, "When Ned is sent to the Caribbean to hunt pirates, he hopes to avenge the death of his best friend, Sam."

Pirates! Adventure! Danger!

Too bad all the cover says is, "Waves on a gloomy day."

These three are all from a company called fastpencil. Their design services include custom cover design for $299, Custom PLUS cover design for $599, and Premium Cover Design for $899. The covers of most of their books are case studies in what not to do. If any of the three authors above paid a penny for their cover designs they should ask for their money back.

 

 

 

 

 

Piracy on ISSUU

ISSUU is a site where you can access a huge number of books and magazines. The problem is that many of them have been uploaded without the authorization of the author or publisher. 

What do the people posting your book get out of it? They can add links to their own sites, charge a reading fee, or place ads. Or they may just want to share. 

For instance, thanks to a reader of this blog, I learned that someone named Andrew Yi from Taiwan uploaded my book, Your Writing Coach, without permission from me or the publisher. I've now lodged a complaint but the first edition of the book has been up a long time and gotten 112 "likes" which suggests at least that number of people have accessed it on ISSUU.

I wonder whether ISSUU is at all concerned with who downloads what. Yes, you can upload your own book, but does ISSUU really think that McGraw Hill gave permission to Kamal Al-Dallam to upload "Business Writing and Communication"?

There are hundreds, probably thousands, of examples like this.

If you or someone you know has a book out, check ISSUU to make sure it's not being pirated there.

 

 

 

When publishing meets television: a new approach, but is it a good one?

When pitching a movie or a TV series, writers sometimes characterize their project as "X" meets "Y"--as in, "Romeo and Juliet" meets "Lord of the Flies."

There's a new approach to books that might be described as "TV writing" meets "publishing."

New publisher Serial Box produces ebooks in 13 to 15 weekly episodes. The first one and the series bible is created by one writer, who is the equivalent of the Show Runner in TV. The team works out the complete storyline, then writers compose chapters, alternating so the assembly line keeps rolling.

Each episode takes about an hour to read and costs $1.99, or you can subscribe and pay $1.59 each, or buy an access pass for all the episodes for about $20. You get both text and audio versions.

The first publication is a dystopian YA novel with a premise that sounds pretty familiar: 23 teens wake up after the Apocalypse and have to figure out what happened--while also being hunted by machines. 

Wired.com quotes co-founder Molly Barton as saying that one of the ideas behind this format is that friends will find it easier to discuss the books because they will be reading them at the same time.

I can't say that as an author I'm very excited by this development; television necessarily is a collaborative medium, but in novels I value the author's individual voice. Of course, there have been book series before that were written by various authors under one pen name, and it didn't kill literature.

Even so, it'll be interesting to find out whether readers go for this format.

Related articles

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One director's take on "write what you know"

Authors, this could be a way to get paid to write your book

How has an author recently raised over $1 million to fund the publishing of a book that tells the stories of 100 inspiring real-life women?

The answer is Kickstarter, the crowdfunding site.

Better known for raising money for tech gadgets, Kickstarter has become a powerful presence in funding self-publishing and independent publishing in the US and the UK.

MANY BOOKS, BIG MONEY

As reported in an article by Richard Lea in The Guardian, in 2015 there were 1,973 successfully-funded publishing pitches, plus another 994 for comic ands and graphic novels. 

That added up to $32.5 million. To date in 2016 another $20 million has been raised for such projects.

There are other crowdfunding sites that raise money for publishing books, but they are dwarfed by Kickstarter. 

HOW IT WORKS

The people doing the pitch set a goal sum and a time limit within which they hope to raise it; if they fail, those who did pledge money are not charged and the project doesn't get any money. On some other sites, if a project raises only part of the goal, the people doing the pitch get that amount.

Kickstarter takes a 5% fee, and payment processing charges. If funding doesn't reach the goal, there are no fees.

THE SECRETS OF KICKSTARTER SUCCESS

Some successful projects have an author who already has a following he or she can tap. Without that, you have to work much harder.

It's vital that the pitch video is compelling and that the goodies on offer are attractive to the target audience. 

There is usually a range of rewards tied to various levels of pledges, from a thank you postcard if you pledge a very small amount, to one or more copies of the publication, to signed copies, to bonus posters, to having a character named after you, to spending a day with the author. 

Even when those elements are in place, the author or publisher has to drive people to the Kickstarter site. This requires a lot of marketing, usually via social media.

The Kickstarter site says, "The majority of initial funding usually comes from the fans and friends of each project. If they like it, they'll spread the word to their friends, and so on."

THE BENEFITS (BEYOND THE MONEY)

Of course, not every pitch gets funded. One of the benefits of using the site is that it gives you a good indication of whether there will be enough demand for your book. In many cases the books haven't been written yet when their Kickstarter campaign starts. If there is a lacklustre response, the author may decide not to go ahead with the project. 

For the projects that succeed, it's a great way to guarantee a good number of readers who, if they like the book, may help spread the word. Rebel Girls, the book about inspirational women, will start its life with 20,000 readers in place, from 71 countries. 

WANT TO CHECK IT OUT?

If you have a book that you think might be suitable for crowdfunding, check out this page on the Kickstarter site: https://www.kickstarter.com/learn?ref=nav.

For a more general overview, take a look at their FAQ page.

 

Robot authors are waiting in the wings

A report on Cnet news says that an artificial intelligence program called Sheherazade is able to create interactive choose-your-own adventure fiction.

It's not quite ready to kick us out of our chairs yet. According to a paper published by the program's creators, "At this point, human-authored narrative still remains the most cost-effective means of generating an interactive narrative experience."

Sure, because cost-effectiveness is how to judge fiction.  Actually, given how little most writers earn, it's hard to imagine anything being more cost-effective.

Still, we can't be complacent. Here's how the paper sees the future:

"Open interactive narrative shows promise in reducing authorial burden in the near future."

Authorial burden? I didn't even realize that writing was a burden...

It goes on, "Sheherazade-IF and the lessons we learned in creating and evaluating it serve as a first step in creating human-quality interactive narrative with almost no human authoring required."

What will we writers do with all that free time once AI has freed us from the heavy lifting involved in making up stories? Perhaps join a conspiracy to destroy the robots?

Are authors wasting their time with Facebook? (1 surprising fact says yes)

Is it a waste of your time trying to cultivate a following for your books via Facebook? In a recent article at digitalbookworld.com, Michael Alvear makes a good case for the answer being yes.

I don't like blog posts that hype "surprising" or "shocking" information that turns out to be neither, but this article revealed something that did surprise me. Maybe you already knew this, but when you add a post on Facebook, only about 16% of your friends or fans see them. I don't mean that they appear on the Facebook pages of all your friends and fans, but 84% don't notice them. I mean that they pop up on only 16% of your follower's pages in the first place.

I have 469 friends on Facebook. That means any individual post reaches only 75 people. Admittedly, I am not very active on Facebook (other than having my blog posts sent to my page automatically), but let's look at the numbers to see how many I'd need for Facebook to be a significant selling tool. 

Alvear estimates that it takes 20,000 people seeing your posts about your book in order to create a worthwhile number of sales. That means in reality you need more than 100,000. Unless you're in the public eye, it's very difficult to get to that number.

Want your post to be sent to 100% of your friends or followers? Pay up.

How cost-effective is it to pay to have all your fans, and others interested in your topic, see your post? On his first try, Alvear paid to reach all of his 5000 Facebook fans and another 8000 people interested in the subject of his book. It cost him $60. He sold..3 books.

For another book with a broader appeal, he paid $344 to reach almost 13,000 people who expressed interest in his topic. He sold...0 books. 

In the article, he identifies some of the reasons why Facebook doesn't work very well for authors. For one thing, the click-through rate (that is, the percentage of people who actually click on your post to get to an order page or to one that has more information) is less than .02% (two-tenths of one percent)! On his second try, he had a click-through rate of 3% and still sold no books. The average conversion rate (that is, people who actually buy after clicking on the post in order to find out more) is only 13%. 

It makes sense. How many of your actual (as opposed to online-only) friends buy your book? I've talked to several authors who asked their friends to buy and review their books on Amazon. Most said they were lucky if they got half a dozen to follow through. People are busy, they may like you but not be interested in your topic or your genre of fiction, or they may just not want to spend the money. I'm sure some of them mean to get around to it but forget. If we keep sending out messages to remind them, it feels like we're begging our abusing the friendship.

Alvear's figures, as well as the personal experience of a few of my acquaintances, suggest that authors should put their attention on other ways of building an author platform. In future posts  I'll look at some of the other options. 

Do books really need a soundtrack?

Would it interest you to have a soundtrack accompany the book you are reading?

A company called Booktrack raised $5 million recently, added to another $5 million raised previously, to fulfill their mission: "to connect readers with an exciting and modern way to experience an e-book with a soundtrack."

On their site they give you a few free samples. I tried the Poe poem, "The Raven." As you read, you hear the wind and when you get to the line about someone rapping on his door, you hear someone rapping on a door. Distinctly underwhelming. 

I wonder who thought this idea is worth $10 million? Sorry, Booktrack, but I prefer to make up my own soundtrack in my head. 

https://www.booktrack.com/content/read/5162387777a4436db3592397e297e484?bp54634=1

Crucial book descriptions that don't quite work

 

jjjjjjjjjjComing up with a snappy description of your book is important these days. Here are a few that aren't terrible but have room fo improvement:

Little is known about the great artist Rembrandt’s life — but this enlightening biography reveals the man behind the paintings. Read this lively, fascinating portrait of one of history’s most enigmatic figures! 

Little is known..so you made it up? In that case, isn't it a historical novel instead of a biography?

With a killer on the loose, brilliant but damaged FBI profiler Jacob Thorne and special agent Emma Kane are determined to track him down. Their hunt for the murderer leads them through rural Nebraska in this harrowing thrill ride. 

Is it just me, or does "rural Nebraska" not go well with "harrowing thrill ride"?

When Cindy and Mattheus part ways, Cindy leaves the Caribbean to start a new chapter of her life. But before she can settle in, another shocking murder pulls her back to Bermuda — where, together again, she and Mattheus must solve the crime before it’s too late… 

I guess if you have already read other books featuring Cindy and Mattheus this would make sense. Even so, "before it's too late" is a bit vague...too late for what?

It's not an exaggeration to say that your book description (to be featured on the back cover, Amazon listings, letters to agents, and so on) may be the hardest and most important part of writing your novel.

How can authors promote their novels without tweeting or blogging?

in the previous post I wrote about why social media generally doesn't work for new novelists. What does work?

1: Get the book to the attention of book reviewers, mostly bloggers and podcasters who have a large following. Not easy, because they are approached by a lot of novelists, but possible. Follow them, make intelligent comments, praise them (ideally, mean it). In other words, let them get to know you a little before you ask them for anything.

2: Get an endorsement from a celebrity whose followers like to read. This eliminates most pop stars, many actors, etc. but that's fine. Set up your book as print-on-demand as well as an ebook so you can print some copies to send to celebrities who might find your book of interest.

Try to find some relevant link between them and the book--did they grow up in that location, did they play a role similar to that of your protagonist, have they expressed interest in helping end domestic violence (if that features in your book)? These may or may not be enough to pique their interest, but it's worth a try.

The ideal is if they Tweet about it, but if they have one of their minions send you a message saying, "Thanks for the book, I enjoyed it!" you can use that quote.  

3. Create a video that is so entertaining that people will want to pass it along to their friends. Another challenging task, because in addition to being entertaining, it has to be relevant to your genre. A funny video of people slipping on banana peels might get a lot of views but I doubt that it would help sell a detective novel. 

 If yours happens to be a children's book, then a charming short video with a little story featuring the same characters might work. 

If you happen to write romance novels, send your trailer to Robin Covington, who features selected romance book trailers at her USA Today site:  send the link to [email protected]. Any subgenre is fine as long as it is a romance!

4. Do something that gets major media attention. The media don't care that you've written a book, so forget about trying to interest them in that per se.

Recently one publisher was lucky enough to have Facebook refuse to accept their book trailer ad because it included nudity--in the form of medieval and Renaissance paintings, drawings, and sculptures of female biblical characters. After Abel and Other Stories, by Michael Lemberger, is a series of Bible stories reimagined from the perspective of women. The Facebook explanation: "Ads are not allowed to promote the sale or use of adult products and services, including toys, videos, publications, live shows, or sexual enhancement products." 

Naturally the publisher, Prospect Park Books, immediately fired off a press release and the resulting publicity will help them more than the Facebook ad ever would have. 

In this case, it was just good luck. Generally you have to make an effort to get attention. Let's say you've written a funny novel about blind dates. You think of a blind date-related stunt--maybe a speed dating event in an unusual location, or one where singles bring their dogs, and if your dog likes the other person's dog you have to go on a date. That could get media coverage. Somewhere in that coverage it will mention your novel and its title. How many people who read the story will actually buy the novel? That's anybody's guess, but if the story makes a national news, it could pay off. 

Writing a non-fiction book? The sales figures contain a lesson.

The sales of paperback non-fiction have been declining and it's easy to assume that this is the result of the advent of e-books. However, figures provided by Neilsen Book at a recent digital publishing conference suggests that the decline started before that.

The most likely reason is that so much information is available free on the internet. People who formerly might have bought a reference book look to Wikipedia and other online sources now.

I think this suggests an important lesson for anybody who is writing a non-fiction book, namely that you have to make sure that either the content or the presentation of your material is different from what people can find easily on the net.

Here are a few ideas on how you could differentiate your non-fiction book. 

DECIDE: BEAT THEM OR JOIN THEM?

Authors have responded to the rise of internet content in two ways: the "if you can't beat them, join them" strategy, which entails having bite-size content, colorful graphics, sidebars with comments that resemble Tweets, etc.; or the "do what they can't/don't do" approach, going in-depth and being unashamed about demanding the concentration of the reader.

I believe that books that aren't clearly in one camp or the other are less likely to succeed.

BRING YOUR PERSONALITY

Bring your personality to the subject. The one thing you can offer that nobody else can is your unique experience or perspective. When appropriate, include anecdotes and other personal touches. 

A good example of this is the Freakonomics books, which make a traditionally dry topic (economics) entertaining and bring in the authors' experiences and views. The first book was subtitled: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything.

FOCUS ON THE DIFFERENCES

In your marketing, including the title, cover image, blurb, etc., reflect what makes your book different. Again, Freakonomics had a cover very different from that of most books on economics.

THINK ABOUT SEQUELS

Finding people who buy your book is hard work, so think ahead to how you can keep them and what else might interest them. It could be a sequel or just a related topic. If you put your website address in the book and offer the reader an incentive (e.g., an extra chapter) for signing up, you'll have a list of people to whom to market your next book. If you already have the next book in mind you can mention it in the current one. 

Here's an example, continuing on from Freakonomics, of a book that gives more of the same:

Then they went on to a book that uses what went before but goes off in the direction of self-development:

CONSIDER OTHER FORMATS

Rather than assuming that a book is the best format for your project, consider whether other ways of presenting it might be better or easier to market. For example, although I've written a number of books on writing, my next project will be an online course. That allows me to integrate videos, audios, quizzes, etc. I will also be offering free webinars to people who buy the book, which will allow me to interact, answer their questions, and of course let them know of future projects that could be of interest to them. This creates a product with added value to the user, and also allows me to charge more than I would for a book.

BE CREATIVE

All of these tips have one thing in common, namely that they encourage you to be creative about how you approach a marketplace in flux. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Nine e-book cover mistakes to avoid.

If you want a quick lesson in what works and what doesn't in terms of the design of e-book covers, take a look at the entries in the December Cover Design Awards at thebookdesigner.com. Designer Joel Friedlander provides a (mostly) constructive critique of each.

You'll find examples of designs that are totally professional and some that make you cringe. The most common faults:

* type that is hard to read (too big, too fancy, obscured by the image)

* images that are confusing (collages, especially, are hard to pull off), or don't match the typography, or are too generic.

* compositions that draw the eye to the wrong place, or make the cover seem crowded, or are made up of elements that fight each other for attention.

Generally you are better off hiring a professional rather than trying to do it yourself. If you do it yourself, get feedback from someone who isn't a friend or relative and knows something about design. Clearly several of the people who entered their covers in this contest failed to do that!

 

Why self-publishers are selling less--and what to do about it

At TheDigitalReader.com, Nate Hoffelder summarizes the challenge that self-publishers (and even traditional publishers) are facing:

"As 2014 draws to a close indie publishing finds itself at a crossroad. There's a growing consensus that the supply of indie e-books is beginning to exceed demand, leading to the textbook micro-economics result [falling revenues]."

WHAT WORKED ISN'T WORKING 

He lists three conclusions:

"One, the days of releasing the first title in a series as permafree have passed. All that accomplishes now is to flood the market and make it harder to sell e-books.

Two, the idea of writing and publishing your next book as the best marketing strategy is also going to have to be reconsidered.

Three, getting into or out of Kindle Unlimited isn't nearly as important as some thought it was a few weeks ago. As I noted when I first reported on this story, this problem is affecting authors both in and out of KU."[Kindle Unlimited is a plan in which, for a monthly fee, readers get free access to many of the e-books available on Kindle. Authors have reported that joining this plan has resulted in lower sales and that the revenue they get from KU has not been enough to make up the difference.]

To this I would add that, for most authors, using social media to promote their fiction doesn't work unless they put an enormous amount of time and effort into it. Yes, you can do blog tours, take part in forums, have a blog about your book, etc. but all those face exactly the same problem as the books themselves: too many people doing the same thing. 

Also, just as giving away your book in hopes that this will attract readers to other books you have written or will write doesn't work now, neither will lowering the prices--that will just result in a race to the bottom. 

SO WHAT WILL WORK?

I don't have a magic plan, but I think based on what's happening now we can safely say to get attention in this ever more crowded marketplace you have to do something different. A few examples:

* Some authors have used crowdfunding as a way to create an audience for their book before they finish writing it. They set the financial bar low to help ensure that their target will be met. However, getting attention for your funding effort also requires a lot of effort, and works best for high-concept books. Two important elments are how creative you can be with the pitch video that you put on the crowdfunding site and the kinds of rewards you come up with for the people who pledge funds. (I'll be doing a series of posts on crowdfunding at some point.)

* When everybody is trying to use new media, it may be the right time to go back to using old media. Local newspapers, local radio, magazines, and other old media are still alive and get a sizable audience. The hook for getting their attention usually is something extreme about the work or about you. Think of oldest, youngest, longest, shortest, cheapest, most expensive, an unusual origin, an unusual experience, etc. 

* There may be piggybacking opportunities, but usually you have to create them yourself. For instance, if you have written a romance in which one of the protagonists suffers from an illness or medical condition, is there a charity or support group that might help you promote the book if you donate 10% of your profits? Obviously this would work only if they felt your portrayal was accurate and might help promote understanding. 

* There may be unusual sponsorship opportunities. For instance, hotels, restaurants and even train lines have had writers in residence. The main value isn't that residence, but the opportunity to leverage it for publicity. Again, you need to be proactive--why not suggest such a scheme to a business that's not doing it now, rather than waiting to hear about one and then having to compete for it?

 DON'T LOSE HEART!

In any crisis, there is opportunity. I'm convinced that authors who are as creative about their marketing as they are about their plots and characters will find a way to cut through all the noise. 

(To find some great techniques for coming up with creative ideas, see my book, Creativity Now, published by Pearson. For 100 case studies of unusual and inexpensive market techniques, see my book Do Something Different, published by Virgin Business Books. Both are available from your favorite bookseller.)

Some hard data on ebook sales

There is a lot of speculation about the impact of e-books, but often without any hard data. In the October 2014 Frankfurt Book Fair edition of Publishers Weekly, Jo Henry passes along some interesting figures regarding the sales of e-books:

* In the U.S., e-books accounted for 23% of unit sales in the first six months of 2014

* Adult fiction and young adult fiction e-books each account for 30% of sales in their categories

* In adult non-fiction, e-books account for 22% of unit sales

* In children's books (not including YA), the figure is 13%

* In the UK e-books sales are growing but not as fast as the sale of print books are declining.

* The amount UK book buyers are paying for e-books is rising. The average was £3.39 in 2013; in the first half of 2014 it was £4.14; this may also have added to the decline in impulse buying of e-books.

* The use of dedicated e-readers (like the Kindle) is declining, but the use of tablets is rising. The use of smart phone for book reading is still small--6% of e-books bought to read primarily on a mobile phone.

 

 

Related articles

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Self-publish or go with an ebook publisher? (And an uncomfortable truth)

This is why (some) publishers deserve to go out of business

In 2012, authors sued the largest publisher of romance novels, Harlequin. Here's a summary of the situation, as described at www.harlegquinlawsuit.com:

THE LEGAL ISSUES

"A class action lawsuit was filed today against Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd., the world’s leading publisher of romance fiction, as well as Harlequin Books S.A., a Swiss corporation, and Harlequin Enterprises B.V., a Dutch corporation, on behalf of authors who entered into contracts with the company.

This lawsuit results from Defendant Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the world’s leading publisher of romance fiction, depriving Plaintiffs and the other authors in the class, of e-book royalties due to them under publishing agreements entered into between 1990 and 2004.

Harlequin required the authors to enter into those agreements with a Swiss entity that it created for tax purposes, and that it dominates and controls. However, Harlequin, before and after the signing of these agreements, performed all the publishing functions related to the agreements, including exercising, selling, licensing, or sublicensing the e-book rights granted by the authors. Instead of paying the authors a royalty of 50% of its net receipts as required by the agreements, an intercompany license was created by Harlequin with its Swiss entity resulting in authors receiving 3% to 4% of the e-books’ cover price as their 50% share instead of 50% of Harlequin Enterprises’ receipts.

Instead of paying the authors a royalty of 50% of its net receipts as required by the agreements, an intercompany license was created by Harlequin with its Swiss entity resulting in authors receiving 3% to 4% of the e-books’ cover price as their 50% share instead of 50% of Harlequin Enterprises’ receipts.

What this means to the authors can be illustrated by an e-book with a hypothetical cover price of $8.00. The “net receipts” made by Harlequin Enterprises Limited from the exercise, sale or license of e-book rights would be at least $4.00, of which authors would be entitled to $2.00 based on their 50% royalty. Computing the “net receipts” based on the “license” between Harlequin’s Swiss entity and Harlequin Enterprises, Plaintiffs’ 50% royalty amounts to only 24 to 32 cents."

In April, 2013, the court dismissed the claim (it gets too technical to get into here, but basically the court found that Harlequin had covered their behind adequately in the wording of their contracts with the authors). The plaintiffs filed an appeal.

The plaintiffs filed an appeal.

In September, 2013, the Romance Writers of America and the Authors Guild filed a 'friend of the court' brief in support of the plaintiffs.

In May, 2014, the Second Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of one claim and sent the case to the district court for further proceedings.

THE BIGGER ISSUE: TRUST

Undoubtedly the case will continue to grind through the court system. In the end, it may be that Harlequin prevails on strictly legal grounds. To my mind, however, the bigger issue is one of trust. Authors and publishers are supposed to be on the same side, not figuring out legal loopholes that permit them to screw each other. I don't know the state of the finances of Harlequin. Maybe they, like many other publishers, are suffering financially. The best response cannot have been to poison the well that is the source of their income.

Authors and publishers are supposed to be on the same side, not figuring out legal loopholes that permit them to screw each other. I don't know the state of the finances of Harlequin. Maybe they, like many other publishers, are suffering financially. The best response cannot be to poison the well that is the source of their income.

Regardless of the result of the lawsuit, are authors going to want to work with Harlequin? Or will this drive more of them to self-publish and cut Harlequin out of the equation totally? 

Yes, publishing faces huge challenges now. I don't know whether working together more closely with authors will save traditional publishing (whether or not it deserves to be saved in its current form is another question) but surely turning on authors won't. 

 

Why "free" is on the way out for ebook authors

Marketing guru Ramit Sethi recently said that if you send people a link for something free they may find interesting, most of the time they won't click on it. This may not be true of your family and closest friends; then again, it may apply to them as well.

Why not, when it's free? For example an article, a report, a YouTube video.

People already have so many demands for their attention that it's easier not to click on yet another link, or to leave it for later (= never).

Sethi says these days you have to "sell free." You have to show people that it's something that will benefit them, just as you do when you're charging. In marketing terms that means there had better be a very good prospect that putting in the effort to sell free will result in income at some point down the line.

HOW THIS WORKS WITH EBOOKS

When there were not so many ebooks around, free worked well. If you had several books available, offering one free in hopes readers would like it and would pay for your other ebooks was an effective strategy.  

It does still work for some people, but I think it's on the way out.  I subscribe to two sites that send out daily emails listing free or highly-discounted ebooks. I very seldom download any of them. I already have enough to read and these books are by unknown authors. They may well be better writers than some of the well-known authors but I don't have time to download and sample these books. 

WHAT COMES AFTER FREE?

If I had sure-thing answer I'd be selling it instead of giving it away for free :). However, my guess is that a new author will have to work even harder to develop a platform--to get known by potential readers first, and then offer them the chance to buy his or her books for a reasonable fee. 

This will make things harder for authors who like to write in a variety of genres because each genre has a different target audience and they don't all hang out at the same places. 

IT'S TIME TO BE A CONTRARIAN

I believe that in this as in a lot of other things it will pay to be a contrarian. When everybody else is on Facebook and Twitter, those are not the places to be if you want to stand out. If others are still flooding the marketplace with free ebooks, you don't want yours to be considered part of that group. 

What are some places most people consider untrendy? Here are a few:

* Newspapers (yes, they're dying but they aren't dead yet). In this category I include feature stories, display ads, and classfied ads.

* Magazines - same as for newspapers

* Radio

*  Local television

 * Podcasts

Having a website will still be important, but not the typical site that has just the cover of your book, your bio, and maybe a blog about how you came to write the book. This may sound harsh, but nobody cares--that is, nobody who doesn't already have some kind of connection with you. 

In future posts I'll go more deeply into some ways that I'm starting to build a platform in Young Adult fiction, which is a new format and genre for me. I'm sure this will include things that don't work as well as things that do. I hope that will yield some information that will be useful to you as well. 

In the meantime you may also find it helpful to get a copy of my book, Do Something Different, published by Virgin Books; it contains 100 case studies of people who came up with creative, mostly very low cost, effective marketing strategies. It's not free.