To E or Not to E: An Update
As most of you know, I’m a crime fiction author, both traditionally and e-published. About eighteen months ago Joe Konrath asked me to blog about the benefits of traditional publishing. I did. Then, as I started e-publishing more myself, that post developed into a presentation comparing the Pros and Cons of traditional vs. e-publishing. I’ve given that talk about a dozen times, and I created a handy-dandy chart on the left, which I hope you can read. (Just click on it to enlarge)
But the book business has been changing, sometimes profoundly, every few months, and now, almost two years later, some issues (not all, but some) have either changed or vanished. At the same time, new ones have emerged.
I was curious – have those changes tipped the scales in one direction or the other? Are there new markers and/or warning signs that fiction writers should know going forward? So I decided revisit the issues.
Be forewarned… this is a long post, so you might want to grab some coffee or something stronger before you read it.
Also, before I start, I want to thank Kris Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, and Lee Allred who’ve graciously allowed me to “borrow” some of their information. Lee even compiled a chart that’s similar to mine. I’ll annotate their info as we go. Btw, I am a regular reader of their blogs and you should be too. Click on their names to get to them.
Traditional Publishing Pros
I’ll start with a couple of the Pros of traditional publishing as I saw them eighteen months ago.
Support and Reviews
What I said then: If a publisher gets behind a title, you can’t beat their marketing support and promotion. They saturate the media with information and hype in a way most individual authors can’t. Even if you’re not one of the “chosen,” publishers send out ARCs for review – which I believe is still the best ways to start generating “buzz.” As much as I appreciate Amazon reviews, a review from the New York Times, or NPR can make a huge difference in sales… and it’s just plain hard to beat a starred review in PW Booklist or Kirkus.
What I say now: The above is still true, but with qualifications. Only a few bestseller authors are chosen for the royal treatment — often those who don’t need the support. Their books are everywhere. For the rest of us, it’s become even tougher. The number of books being published is down. The number of ARCs being distributed is down, and the number of traditional review sources, ie newspapers and magazines, is too. Bottom line, it’s harder than ever to make a splash with your book in traditional forums.
At the same time, though, the volume of online review sources has exploded. And the number of reviewers who review self-published and/or indie authors is climbing. In addition, there are a host of websites that will feature your traditionally published novel. So it’s not as if promotion and support isn’t there– it’s just moved online. Which is both a pro and a con. Depending on how comfortable you are with social media.
Moving on to Distribution:
What I said then: Traditional publishers’ distribution networks are broad, deep, and in some cases, even creative. As much as we focus online for our book info, when you see a book in the bookstore, at the airport, in Costco, on a bus, or the grocery store, it makes an impression. The more impressions, the more apt a consumer is to buy. Publishers make those impressions possible in ways that a computer screen can’t.
What I say now: That’s still true. For big publishers. But Borders is no more, Barnes and Noble is cutting back, and more authors are going with mid-sized or smaller publishers whose reach is not as broad as the Big Six. Except online, where everyone is still on a level playing field, more or less. Still, distribution online just isn’t the same as seeing your book in the airport when you’re between flights. It just isn’t.
Eighteen months ago, I also talked about the advantages of in-house editing, the role of booksellers who could hand-sell your books, and the fact that book awards are generally limited to traditionally published books. Not much has changed there, either, except that independent bookstores are closing by the handful, which makes me want to cry. And also makes hand-selling less common.
Traditional Publishing Cons
Let’s go to the Cons of traditional publishing (Told you this would be long…)
They’re listed on my chart, and frankly, there’s nothing terribly new here. You already know about the stingy e-book royalty rates given to authors by traditional publishing (average 25% among the Big 6 ). Recently, there’s been noise about raising them, which is good. Much of that noise is, coming, interestingly, from agents. (More about them later).
You probably also know you wait much longer for your book to come out (at least a year), and you only get royalty statements twice a year, although Simon & Schuster announced they will make sales info available to their authors online. It’s a great idea. Let’s see if other publishers follow suit.
Yes, you get money up front, but advances for most authors are much smaller these days ($10,000 is the new $50,000). Print runs are down too.
And the shelf life for a new book in print is, as Sara Paretsky has said, is somewhere “between the milk and the yogurt.” You have about 6 weeks to make a splash. And then people move on to next best story.
On the “Con” side, though, new issues have emerged that traditionally published authors should know about. Much of this is what I’ve learned from Kris and Dean.
Contracts: Hinky things are going on with contracts these days. Limitations on what you can write and publish… what constitutes a reversion of rights… and what happens when your backlist is orphaned or goes out of print. When you’re finished here, go read about some of them. It’s troubling, to say the least. Kris and Dean recommend you hire a lawyer go over your contract… Don’t leave it in your agent’s hands. I agree.
Bankruptcy: Are publishers going under? Dorchester did. Will others follow suit? Clearly, none of us know, and we certainly can’t control the process, but it’s something to think about.
Accounting of e-book Royalties: Traditional publishers are still refining their systems to account for e-book sales, and there are anecdotal stories that authors are not getting all the royalties they are due. I really don’t think anyone is trying to cheat anyone, but the new accounting rules are still in their infancy. Which means – well – you need to pay very close attention to your royalty statement.
Agents: Yes, agents take 15% and most traditional authors understand that. Including me, btw. What I’m not so sure about is that some agents – whose revenues have been slashed by all the changes – are trying to recoup those revenues by e-publishing their clients’ backlists. Should they be publishers as well as agents? How can they represent you with one hand, and publish you with the other? Isn’t that a conflict of interest? It’s a dilemma. The jury is still out. The Passive Voice has a series of post on agents. You need to read them.
Still with me? Yeah, I know. Maybe you should go have a drink, because we’re still not done.
E-Publishing Pros
As many of you already know, the biggest Pro of E-publishing is control. The writer has it, the publisher doesn’t. I list it as a Pro, but I know folks who think it’s a Con. Mostly these are writers who do not approach their career as a business… who don’t want to be bothered by all the “money” and “process” stuff. I am a Type-A, and I want to know as much as I can, so I see self-publishing as a tremendous opportunity. Some people, like David Wilk, call it becoming the “Entrepreneurial Author.” I’m there.
As far as the other Pros, nothing has really changed in the past couple of years. You don’t need a middleman, and you don’t need an agent. And you don’t need a company (which are sprouting like mushrooms after a rain) that offers to put your books up for you… and takes a big chunk of the proceeds. You can choose the cover, the story, the editor (and yes, everyone needs an editor). You can convert it yourself or hire someone to do it without mortgaging your future. Accounting is almost instantaneous and is 24-7. And you have the potential to make a good bit of change. Maybe even a small fortune.
I also want to mention a “new” pro that’s emerged from digital technology. Suddenly it’s easier to produce subsidiary content for your work. I produced an audio of SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE for much less than I thought it would cost. It will be out in time for the holidays, btw. I am also pursuing foreign rights directly for some of my novels, and they might turn out to be translations that are e-books. In fact, there seems to be an emerging synchronicity in the digital world between e-books, audio, and other digital format. That’s good for all of us.
E-Publishing Cons
But let’s take a closer look at the Cons, because there are some.
First, the money:
I made great money at the beginning. I was a consistent Amazon best-seller for a couple of books, which were priced at 99 cents. Then I got greedy and raised the prices to $2.99. My sales tanked, and I’m still trying to recover.
Bottom line: Just like in traditional publishing, there are ups and downs. You’ll make money one week, you won’t the next. But, thankfully, e-books are forever. They will never go out of print. So there are always going to be new opportunities with new readers.
There is an upfront financial outlay to do it “right”… ie professionally. Probably about $1500. Which includes editing, cover, conversion, uploading, and a couple of hundred dollars for promotion.
Quality: Sorry folks, but the quality of e-books is all over the place. Gatekeepers have yet to emerge, but maybe there shouldn’t be. Some people say readers are the gatekeepers… I get that. But here’s the thing: Some readers aren’t as discriminating as I am. They either can’t tell or they don’t care if a book isn’t up to my standards. They’re reading it for different reasons. So is that a pro or a con? I guess it depends where you stand. In many cases, indie authors outsell me 10 to 1, so who’s to say?
Marketing; There’s nothing really new here either. We all know we have to spend more time marketing online, in ways we never imagined. But even if you’re traditionally published, you know you have to do that. Hello, Social Media.
Amazon: However, there is a new “Con” in indie publishing that I want to discuss (and then I’ll let you go). And that “Con” is Amazon. Ironically, it’s also the biggest “Pro” of indie publishing. Some days they’re my best friend. Some days they’re my worst enemy. Amazon can make me rich, Amazon can make me poor. And depending on the month, they have.
And I can’t even blame it on a group or an individual. An author’s success on Amazon depends mostly on their algorithms, a secret formula that makes my books show up with other books as “If you have read X, you’ll like Y.” Being on the right list at the same time can produce a book that virtually sells itself — for months. Just ask Simon Wood, CJ Lyons, and J. Carson Black. But the opposite is true as well. I know. I’ve been in both places. I hear that Amazon is changing their algorithms so there will be a faster turn-over of authors. We shall see.
Still, the fact remains that Amazon accounts for over 90% of my sales. They are essentially a monopoly. And they’re getting bigger. They are gobbling up mid-list authors whom they will publish and promote, and they’re increasing their co-op promotion – I talked about that earlier — it’s similar to what used to exist in bookstores. As Amazon gets bigger, individual authors matter less. That’s just the way it is. I don’t see much of a solution… yet.
So… wrapping it all up, here’s my updated Pros and Cons chart. Yeah, I know it’s smaller… I hope you can read it. What do you think? Btw, for those of you who’ve made it this far… I salute you. Have at it. What did I miss?
Oh… and stay tuned. Six months from now, things will likely be very different.
And just in case you’re wondering, I self-published two books this year as e-books. But my next book, a literary thriller set in Iran due out next April, will be traditionally published by one of the best of the new, niche publishers, Allium Press of Chicago.
And so it goes.
Thanks for a comprehensive analysis. There are of course factors to consider like emerging markets which are less e-book friendly as of now, such as India; reader preferences and attitudes etc. I am of the view that e-books will change the way people view books and reading over the next five years.
Libby, thanks for taking the time to lay this out for the rest of us. I always admire the energy and intelligence you bring to new ventures.
I’m trying to make sense of it for myself, Sara. Things are changing so quickly.. Future Shock is obsolete.
Great post, Libby. Thank you for taking the time to spell things out. Looking forward to reading Toxicity!
Libby, Thanks for an excellent analysis. Many indie writers on Kindle don’t have experience of traditional publishing and so cannot make the comparison. It’s great that you’ve made this available….
This is a great post – Thank you! Going forward, it will be interesting to see how this all pans out.
Thanks, Libby, that was a comprehensive in-depth analysis that was a delight to read!I think you’ve pretty much covered the ground, but since this is a highly movable feast, God only knows what tomorrow holds for us…You’re right, one needs to monitor the situation and I’m looking forward to your next installment.
Just one additional little thought: I don’t think we can dismiss traditional publishers quite yet. They’ve made mistakes and are paying for them (among the mistakes: the agency model setting ebook prices too high; messy accounting of ebook sales; resistance to raise royalty rates especially on ebooks). Authors are running away and self-publishing in flocks. But…there’s always a but, the window of opportunity for self-publishing could close up soon, at least as soon as publishers begin to realize that it is to their advantage too to lower ebook prices below that barrier of $10 and compete directly with indies.
When that happens, indies with have a tough time surviving because, no matter how hard an individual author does his marketing, the results will always be less compared to traditional publishers who can access big literary critics on the NYT, New Yorker, WSJ too lately and other places. Indie online reviews just can’t compete. And all those blog tours and “author interviews” of writers no one has ever heard of…Well, I don’t believe that sort of stuff has much marketing clout, certainly less than what publishers can lay on the line anytime they want to! And, btw, you pointed out yet another mistake big publishers have been guilty of doing lately: putting all their marketing efforts on their biggest selling authors instead of spreading the good word on new names…
Thanks for an excellent post that stimulates reflection!
Hi, Claude… thank YOU. I think you hit a really valid concern… that the door may well close on indie authors down the road. Kind of frightening, depending on where you stand.
I spent my life as the target of phrases like it can’t, it won’t, your ideas are bad, no one wants that, it’ll never work. I didn’t/don’t buy any of it. Smart, so-called traditional publishers will adapt and change. Libby, your post is excellent. Comprehensive and positive in tone. I like that. There’s entirely too much negativity surrounding the technological advances we now live in. I think authors out to spend their energy writing the best book they can and worry a lot less about being compared to somebody else’s success. How do YOU define success? By comparing yourself to others or by producing something that is enjoyed by others and satisfies your own inner muse? And as to the influence of on-line reviews, I’m aware of some reviews that have been accessed more than 100,000 times. Be well and thanks for a very compete and thought-provoking post.
Great post, Libby. You present a nicely balanced view of the options available today. For me, the indie route just makes the most sense at this point in my career. The Big 6 are putting most of their $$ and promo efforts behind their superstars — which means the midlist is becoming a graveyard where good authors go to die. Rather than sign away all rights forever, I’d rather take my chances in the Amazon jungle. The allure of 100% creative control + 70% royalties = an intoxicating combination. I’m about to publish my first backlist ebooks, so we’ll see how it goes.
Thanks Libby for the illuminating post.
For me as an Indie, the Amazon algorithms sure do rule my book’s spot in the sun, or the shade. I’ve heard numerous explanations of how the algorithms work–many contradictory–and would like to find an overall explanation.
Re: agents “trying to recoup those revenues by e-publishing their clients’ backlists” — I am seeing this happen, and it really makes me wonder why an author with a big, healthy backlist would go this route and wind up paying one or even TWO middlemen (the agent and the e-publisher, in some cases, as some agents have aligned with e-publishers — and both take percentages). Why not at least consult with authors like Janet Dawson, Ellen Hart or you, Libby, who have e-pubbed their backlists independently? Sure you have to pay a flat fee today for the cover & conversion, but the profits are then yours forever. And you don’t have to wait around for a royalty statement.
I think the traditional publishers are still in a good position – they have a tremendous backlist of e-book rights they can do something with. And they also have a tremendous number of skilled people on hand – editors, legal, marketing, etc.
I fear Amazon mopping up every last bit of content they can get their hands on. But I think that it won’t turn into a monopoly – Books will be available for all sorts of tablet devices and while they have the advantage now, I don’t think that will last.
Great post, Libby.
My friends who are self-publishing e-books may yell at me for saying this, but I believe the big traditional publishers will take over and dominate e-publishing just as they do print. NAL/Berkeley has just announced the creation of its own e-imprint to catch readers who are deserting mass market paperbacks, and I expect the other big houses to do the same. They will introduce new authors via e-books, and they will eventually have full e-book lines just as they have paperback lines. They will provide the editing and publicity services (including solicitation of reviews)they currently provide only for print. And the writers will get the prestige of being published by long-established, respected publishers. They will be eligible for professional membership in writers’ organizations and their e-books will be eligible for awards.
The traditional publishers are just starting to wake up to the need for a major effort in the e-book field, but they are waking up, and I believe they will claim it as their own.
I’ve wondered about that exact thing, Sandy. It started with the co/op promotions that Amazon is providing for other publishers. I believe Harper has already done some, and the rest of the Big Six probably aren’t far behind. Which means they’ve got to have something to promote. It may well be new e-book imprints.
Very interesting post, Libby. So much of what you said here was similar to what I heard at a workshop given by the folks behind Venture Galleries.com and a marketing specialist, Rusty Shelton. One of the main points they made was that the e-book biz is constantly evolving and we need to be flexible enough to move with the changes.
I have not abandoned traditional publishing, either, as I know there are still a lot of readers who want a book in paper. That may change in a few more years, but it may not as quickly as some are predicting.
Libby, thanks for breaking all this down into pros and cons. You’ve included a few things I hadn’t thought of.
Libby, thanks for this. Very comprehensive. I linked it to my FB page and tweeted it. Hope you get some further feedback. The ever-changing publishing world is confounding, isn’t it?
I’ve been e-published since the beginning. I’ve been expecting what is happening now–but it took longer than I thought it would. I’m with two small independent publishers who do e-books (and there are other places then just Amazon that sell e-books) and trade paperbacks. I still sell a lot of the trade paperbacks but I do best at libraries, giving talks, and craft and book fairs.
Good post, Libby.
A nicely comprehensive post, Libby. Great job! One of the pros for self-publishing for me has been the flexibility it provides me. I agree with Sandy Parshall that big publishers are making that slow, ponderous, but inevitable turn toward e-publishing. They’re like a big freighter that has to take the corners slower and wider, but when they get headed in the right direction they will make up time. I made the decision to self-publish my Letty Whittaker 12 Step series after doing everything within my control to get it traditionally published. Over the course of that journey I had two great agents, several close calls, and now that I’ve self-published, no regrets. For me, right now, self-publishing works with this series. For the next series? At a later time, when the Big 6 (or 5 or 4) have navigated that turn? I might be making a different choice. Time and technology will tell.
My advice? Stay flexible!
Wow, that was long. But tremendously truthful and useful. This is the best post I’ve seen on this subject. Publishing is such a challenge these days. Like many authors, I’m pursuing both indie and traditional routes, and hoping to get the benefits of each. For a new author, getting the attention of readers no longer seems like one huge mountain to climb; it seems like a whole mountain range we have to conquer.
This is a fabulous post! Thanks so much. I mentally had much of this on a pro/con list, but it was great to have it laid out so clearly, and there was lots of info that is new to me. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Thanks for taking time to do such a comprehensive study. David and I have considered e-publishing but we really didn’t know very much about it. Your blog made laid it all out in a way that’s easy to understand. Eminently usable! Thanks again!
Nicely done, Libby! As a reader (and a non-writer) I find the world of e-publishing to be a cost-effective, door-opening intro to writers new to me. I will never lose my need for having physical books in my hand, particularly those of my favorite writers, but I love that I can look through the lists of free or $0.99 books for hooks that catch my eye and I won’t kick myself very hard if I get a loser and it’s a win if I find a good book. I realize times are hard in the book industry (not unlike the rest of the working world) so I think writers who take a realistic business approach to their chosen line of work will be the survivors while others may easily fall out of the picture. Nice blog!
Hi Libby. I attended your SINC presentation at Bouchercon and in 4 weeks you have even more valuable input for all of us. We all thank you for your astute analytical skills and the ability to share your insights into both sides of this crazy but wonderful business. I hope you’ll continue to follow the trends and lend us your wise guidance. Congratulations on your own success in indie publishing and the traditional route.
BTW, can we lure you to Left Coast Crime in Sacramento next March? I know there will be hundreds of participants who would love to hear about your journey.
I have one book published through a small press, and two I self-published soon to be followed by two more.
I have a major publisher sending me a contract for my angel series. I think the best thing authors can do now is keep all options open, sign with traditional houses (if offered) on some works, and self-publish the rest.
Cross promotion can increase sales on both ends.
Libby, I may open a whole can of worms here. This blog is GREAT for talking about the pros and cons but what you’re talking about – for the most part – is self publishing and not e-publishing.
There are still a number of e-publishers out there where they handle the same things as a traditional publisher (editing, formatting, cover art, etc). Being both traditionally and e-published, I know that sometimes with epubbing you have more input but not the same control as you do with self pubbing.
I kind of see e-pubbing in the middle between self pubbing and traditional pubbing. More input into the process, generally speaking a higher royalty rate, and a whole other set of pros and cons.
That doesn’t take away in the least from the information you shared – it’s very informative, and perhaps I’m arguing semantics. But I personally think it’s an important distinction.
You’re right Donna. I intentionally blurred the category, and I am talking about self-publishing, mainly because I can’t see why any author would encumber themselves with yet another publisher for their ebooks. Kind of defeats the entire premise. At least in my mind.
Thanks for sharing such great info – as someone self-pubbing my first novel next month, I’ve already bumped into the giant qualifier in Book Blog Reviewer Land re quality and gatekeepers. Most book reviewers who do so as their passion state flatly in their policies that they’re no longer accepting self-pubbed. I guess they didn’t appreciate being asked to fill the role of slush-pile reader. On the other hand, in the cream-rises-to-the-top category, I’ve already seen a few self-pubbed novels appearing on these same sites with wildly enthusiastic recommendations. So the market is currently working as it should with regard to self-pubbed e-books.
[...] TO “E” OR NOT TO “E” from Libby Fischer Hellman’s excellent blog [...]
While traditional publishers controlled distribution, with eBooks they don’t. However, I do disagree with both Konrath and Dean about how as the pie gets bigger everyone’s slice gets bigger. The bottleneck now is placement for eBooks. No matter how you cut the slice, there are only going to be 100 titles in the bestseller list for a genre. If readers can’t find your eBooks, they can’t buy them.
What a great summary Libby. Nicola Morgan pointed to it from her Help I need a publisher blog and i’m so glad she did. I’m still looking for representation and publishing deals and still hoping to go the traditional route but with the self-publishing scene changing so fast it’s great to have something like this to keep on top of the pros and cons. One thing i wonder though: is there any wisdom on whether starting out by self-publishing harms your standing in the eyes of the traditional publishers, per se? Clearly if it’s error filled and generally wonky, it will. I’d not do it without some independent encouragement from people i thought knew what they were talking about, but is the act of doing so enough to put another barrier between me and eventual trad publishing (which i still think of as the gold standard – rightly or wrongly!) Two years ago i’d have argued it would, but what about now?
I’m not an agent or a publisher, so take this for what it’s worth. I have heard stories about writers being picked up by traditional publishers after self-publishing their work. It’s a known fact that they are trolling Amazon and if they hear about you through your marketing efforts, see that your work is professionally done, and your sales are high, then yes, it;s possible. I do think the “stigma” about self-publishing as a route to traditional publishing has largely lifted.
It’s great to have your opinion. I guess the story that’s coming across is that if you go the self-publishing route, you need to produce something as professionally as a trad publisher would and act as professionally as a traditionally published author would and you’ll not come to too much harm. Thanks again.