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You’re gonna love this one… I did, so much so that I had to reprint it. Many thanks to Steven Moore for letting me repost this – and for his insights and thoughts on writing (and writer’s block, and head colds/flu, and the “appropriate” length of blog posts, and… teehee) generally! The original post can be found here.
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The Internet and the e-Book
by Steven Moore
I have made some noise in this blog about the fact that I’m going all eBook. I have a list of reasons, but there is always that alter-ego of mine called “buyer’s remorse” who is telling me that I’m killing myself. Read on, Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath, and console me.
Let’s enumerate the reasons again. The top one is that I can’t afford to keep on paying for POD. Even though prices have come down and service has gone up (I have no complaints about Infinity Publishing’s production of trade paperbacks, for example), for the same price I can produce multiple eBooks. I have many stories I want to tell. If this paradigm shift to digital publishing continues, eBook media is my most economical route.
It’s a toss-up which media, eBook or trade paperback, is most effective for marketing, something I’m forced to do on my own. I can’t afford even a small ad in the NY Times Book Review section, let alone a trailer that is shown on TV, but that’s true whether I’m marketing an eBook or a trade paperback. As for book signings and/or discussions in more traditional venues (bookstores, libraries, book groups, and eclectic coffee shops), I’d say the eBook is at a distinct disadvantage. It’s also hard to put an eBook in someone’s stocking at Christmas.
The eBook has an important marketing advantage that counts more for me: It’s easy to get an eBook to a reviewer. An author doesn’t sell that many books in the traditional venues, especially if you take into account that indie authors are seldom invited to present in these venues. Mary Higgins Clark or Stephen King can sell a few more, I suppose, because they already have name recognition—an adoring public wants to attend so they can say they saw the famous author up close and in person. (To Mary’s credit, she recently appeared in our Montclair Public Library, but she was reading to children. At least the adoration was second hand, through the parents. The kids didn’t get there by Star Trek transporter.)
A reviewer that wants a hardcover or trade paperback to review won’t get it as fast as one that will receive an eBook. In my case, if it’s a recent book of mine, he or she won’t ever get it because there’s only an eBook version. On the other hand, if he or she accepts an eBook, I can gift it immediately (assuming they have an internet address). I review for Bookpleasures.com. I prefer to review eBooks and will ask for the eBook version, if it exists, for precisely this reason. Snail mail is so passé, costly, and inefficient.
But there’s the conundrum. The digital revolution in general, and eBooks in particular, exist due to the internet. The monster lurking in the closet is that not everyone has a fast internet connection. These connections are more or less limited to heavily populated areas. My brother, bless his soul, lived in rural Ohio for many years. In spite of the close proximity to Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati, he struggled with slow internet connections for most of those years. It’s a fact of life in rural areas.
There is the fact that these rural areas are falling behind in the information revolution. The N.Y. Times last Sunday had a good article about this. The Times sees this as a blow against equal opportunities for all Americans. I’m not sure people in rural areas see it that way. Nevertheless, it presents a real problem for eBooks and the digital paradigm shift in book publishing.
Even in a cabin in the backwoods of the Sierra Nevada, I can sit down and read—maybe by lantern light, but I can still read. But I probably can’t have an internet hookup, even a slow one. That means that if I’m reading my Kindle, I can’t download a new book to read in situ. Of course, I can’t order a new trade paperback either. But, if I had that internet connection, I could download and be reading my new acquisition within minutes before the snail mail person can even start thinking about how to get through the snow to deliver the paperback to the nearest general store.
Do you see my point? By restricting myself to eBook publication, I’m also restricting my potential audience. Not only is there the chance that no one in rural areas will read my eBook (what are the chances that the local library has it on loan?). There are also many people who just aren’t into eBooks. They can’t get past that pleasure of turning the page, dog-earing pages with pithy prose, jotting down notes in the margins, etc. I know. I thought I was one of them. Now I can’t imagine life without my Kindle.
So, Barry and Joe, what kind words of consolation do you offer? I don’t know how the demographics work. Maybe those rural areas don’t count for much, population-wise, but I know that if lived there I would be even more prone to entertain myself with a good book. The nearest movie theater and ethnic restaurant might be many, many miles away (I don’t count overcooked Chinese vegetables in Utah or molasses-consistency chili con carne in Iowa as good ethnic food). A nice provolone and salami sandwich on rye, my one-fingered glass of Jameson’s, and a good book sounds like the way to go.
I guess I must accept that there are many readers that I just can’t reach. I don’t reach many now anyway, even with the wonderful internet at my disposal. Barry and Joe have name recognition. I don’t. Apparently many people read this blog but don’t buy my books. Maybe you just don’t like paying for stuff. Sorry. My eBooks are bargains (I don’t charge by the hour). Nevertheless, I need to recover expenses, even if I’m choosing a media, eBooks, that offers the least expensive way to put my stories before the public.
In libris libertas…
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Steve Moore is a full-time writer and ex-scientist specializing in sci-fi thrillers. For a complete bio, blog, novels, short stories, reviews and interviews, visit his website.
Great points – there are some genres in which eBooks are beginning to sell more copies than print and if you’re writing in one of those genres you’re better off not investing time or money in creating a print copy. After all, Amanda Hocking didn’t produce a print copy until she was already a best seller on Kindle.
I would settle for “best seller on Kindle” after my name… Of course, I’d have to FINISH SOMETHING first, but minor detail eh? (teehee)
And it is wild to see how things are trending in that regard. I wonder if we will eventually see some genres all but fade out in print, or if some will end up in fully print-on-demand world, as a result.
Hi Amy and Jill,
Amanda Hocking proves my eBook publishing theorem #1: to be successful, you need an excellent product AND considerable luck. “Best seller on Kindle” is something akin to winning the lottery or a Nobel prize, although my chances for the best seller might be better. In any case, like the lottery and the prize, I can’t have the best seller unless I play the game.
My post was written some time ago, but I still feel that I might be losing potential readers. And, for me, it’s all about the readers! Why write if you don’t have them? It’s something like that philosophy thing about when a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one there to hear.
Thanks, Jill, for reposting.
All the best,
Steve
You’re most welcome Steve – thanks for letting me share your thought-provoking piece!
I agree that there is luck involved – a lot of luck – and that it is probably lottery-level. I think this is especially true in a $.99 – $1.99 market like much of the Kindle eBook stuff. I buy and/or review some of those books – they are VERY hit-or-miss, which starts making me gun-shy about picking more, but I’ve found a few that were very good (and recommended them on, as is my wont). I think there’s scratch-off ticket level luck involved in “traditional” publishing too though – it’s really all about happening to have the right book at the right time, given shifting cultural and consumer interests… I’ve found amazing books in the bargain bin that I couldn’t believe didn’t fly off the shelves – and see a truckload of (pardon me, all you highly successful authors, but this is not just sour grapes talking) crap floating on top of the “best seller” lists all the time. It’s all about knowing who is buying books, at what price points, and when. And I don’t think there are many people who are prescient enough to predict the coming trends far enough in advance to create a new book in time to ride them – I think that a lot of it has to boil down to luck, at least somewhat (and assuming, as you point out Steve, that there’s a quality product in the first place).
Even then, there’s a huge difference between being a best-selling author because you just want to sell books and being a best-selling author who writes books millions of readers want to read – know what I mean? I can see what sells – at least, what sells lots of mass market paperbacks – and could probably write my own version that would get added to the thousands of other “my own versions” written by thousands of other potential authors. It might sell, and it might (if I do a good enough, or derivative enough, job, sell well) but that’s not why I write. It’s not just about the sales – it’s about knowing I wrote something that people enjoyed and wanted to read, something that I feel proud to put my name on. Of course, to your point about trees and forests Steve, sales are also a decent hallmark of readers. Plus there’s that whole “bills don’t pay themselves” thing… 😉
A lot to think about, and definitely much more to talk about, but I guess if I’m ever going to try to make my mark on that best seller list, I’d better get back to writing today. (teehee) Thanks again for your comment and the post!
[…] Jill Elizabeth has reposted my article “The Internet and the Ebook.” See: http://blog.jill-elizabeth.com/2012/03/12/guest-post-the-internet-and-the-e-book-by-steven-moore/ In a comment to my own article (on Jill’s website, of course), I pointed out how writing an […]