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Blood Money!

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I’m a fairly busy woman, doing the things that I like to do – writing, walking the dog, and in general trying to stay out of trouble.  The last one is pretty much a full-time job.  My publisher Dean is the one who stays up on all the stuff happening in the publishing world.  He weeds through all the news and gossip, and then he takes the time to fill me in on some of the more interesting tidbits.

One of the things he’s been following recently is the discussion that has popped up concerning the payment of royalties to authors.  This really began with the April 13, 2011 blog post The Business Rusch: Royalty Statememts by Kristine Kathryn Rusch on her website.  The bottom line is that she felt her royalty statements from her publisher were not correct.  How could she have sold few eBooks, according to her publisher, when her self-published books were selling at a good pace.  She detailed her questions and her ensuing investigation.  She pointed out that there is an apparent problem in the accounting methods of some traditional publishing houses.  What she also did was point out that not all of them had problems and that she didn’t suspect them of indulging in a criminal act.  They simply don’t have a handle on the eBook market and aren’t taking care of business.  And it’s a big business.  She had over 90 comments on that one post.

Ms. Rusch provided an update post April 20 that was equally fascinating.  I’ve been impressed by the balanced and informative nature of her posts.  Ms. Rusch has pointed out that there is a huge potential for a fire in the theater without screaming Fire, or sounding like an insane conspiracy theorist.  Is there a problem with the proper reporting of royalties by major publishers?  No doubt in my mind that some of them have problems based on the information provided.  Was it done to deny the authors their due?  Doubtful, although I’m sure a few of those companies are aware there are problems and aren’t rushing to fix them.  Does it need to change and accurate accounting methods be employed?  Absolutely!

So where do I come out in all of this?  Two things.  First, I know it would be a huge undertaking, but authors should be provided screen snapshots of their sales figures.  Amazon provides the account holder (publisher) a statement so why not share it with the author.  What are they hiding?  We all know how the money works so there should be no secrets?  Pain in the butt – you bet, but what is your company integrity worth?   Secondly, authors should be prepared to defend their rights.  I like Ms. Rusch’s suggestion that authors utilize their writing associations and applying pressure for the big changes.

Me – I’m lucky in my choice of publishers.  Dean is providing me screenshots of the statements.  He had told me he was doing it long before this particular item appeared.  Of course, I’m a little more pro-active in my approach than the ones suggested by Ms. Rusch – I own a baseball bat and I know where Dean lives…

The Importance of the Cover

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Part of the reason that I went my own way on the publishing of Protecting Parker was that I couldn’t bear the idea of having anything other than a great cover that I could be proud of.  Many of the covers I see now leave me bored, cold, or even worse, horrified.  So much so, that it was something that became a large part of my decision to go my own way.   Book covers are the first impression of the story.  They have to matter.

There are a lot of online discussions about covers – one of the better ones that provides a retrospective of covers in the romance genre is Julie’s Journal.   While I’m not a huge romance reader, I have to admit the covers for this genre are usually the ones that send me over the edge.  I have to ask – what jackass thinks cartoon characters on the front of a novel sells romance?  I recently spoke to an author (I’m not giving her name because she still under contract) who complained bitterly about being stuck with one of those covers prior to publication.  She was doing a signing and young teens were trying to buy her books, and she was put in the position of politely telling their parents that the books weren’t for teens due to the sexual content.  Angry parents, unhappy teens, and a bad cover that she’s still paying for years later.   She will be going her own way as soon as she can get her rights back.

I have yet to get over what I considered to be a bad cover choice on a recent book by one of my favorite authors.  A primary element in her novel was the unique amethyst colored eyes and Mohawk haircut of the lead character.  So what’s on the cover?  Golden brown eyes and flowing hair.  Are you kidding me?  Who the hell made that decision?  I find it hard to believe the author was happy with that representation.

Even more appalling to me is the stock artwork that gets sold and apparently resold.  I was recently in my local chain bookstore and wandering aisles when  I came to a complete stop and could do nothing more than point in shock.   A romance novel on the top shelf depicted a man and woman in the classic pre-kiss clutch – and two shelves below – was the same cover from a different publisher.  Only the names and clothing color had changed.  I’d be incredibly offended if I finally had my book published and then had the same artwork as someone else.

Do you need a little levity in your day?  Stop and look at the Harlequin rack.  The range of covers is amazing and appalling at the same time.  I must admit that I’ve spent more than a little time standing there giggling.  While I’m pretty sure that’s not the reaction they want – it’s the one I usually have.  I just don’t know what they are trying to sell with those covers, but they aren’t making me feel romantic.  One of their lines has covers that look like the covers of the Bobbsey Twin books that I read as a child.  Really?  Just what the heck does this happy 1950s fuzzy look have to do with romance?

And don’t for a minute think the problem is just in romance.   Barry Eisler has spent a lot of time on the New York Times Best Sellers List, but recently was so frustrated with a cover choice that he wrote an open letter to his publisher.  He’d tried everything else to get their attention and finally had to resort to public criticism.  The letter and discussion can be found at Dear Author and makes for some interesting reading.   If he can’t get a publisher to listen to him, just what hope does a first time author have?  Now you know why Barry has also gone his own way and left his publisher.

Someone else thinks having a great book cover matters.  This is from a review of Protecting Parker:  “First of all, the cover design and book description drew me in.  Dog tags and a strong yet vulnerable female hero!”   Thank you for saying so Chopin Gal – you made my point beautifully!  The cover matters.

 

Who’s my Publisher?

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Have you met Dean Newman from Liquid Reality Studios?  I don’t know how to explain Dean.  He’s an incredibly talented graphic designer and technological wizard, and he’s also a guy that gets me – don’t hold that against him!  He’s one of those rare people who understands what I’m talking about, even when I don’t.  Which according to Dean is most of the time.  Dean generally just lets me babble away over coffee, and then he does whatever he wants anyway.  Maybe it’s the caffeine, but I’m always happy with what he creates.  He’s been listening to me spout off about Protecting Parker for awhile now.  I made him re-read the emails from the executive editor to see if I’d misread anything – and for once, I hadn’t.  At some point it became obvious to both of us that he was going to be my publisher.   I quit playing around, begged Marcia to be my editor, and got serious about finishing the book.

When we were in final edits it was time to talk about the cover.  Dean and I have talked about book covers for years.  We read a lot of the same things and both of us complain bitterly about the stock characters and poor design that we’ve seen.  We were standing in Barnes and Noble one night laughing about two different authors one shelf away from each other having the same stock character cover.  Only the hair and dress color were different.  One morning Dean asked me what I had in mind for Parker, and I gave him the big duffus look that he’s come to expect from me before my second cup of coffee.  Okay, he pretty much expects that look all the time, but he’s gotten really good at not showing it.  Anyway, what I was able to tell him was that I wanted a desert motif, but no people.  Simple, simple, simple.  About an hour later he sent me the first draft of this cover.  My total input was asking him to rotate the dog tags.  The cover was done.  Yes, Dean – I know you had to do a bunch of other stuff for it to meet your standards, but from the minute I saw that cover – I was in love with it.  It was perfect!

Now, I would like to tell you that I had a clear vision of what I wanted, but it’s simply not true.  I rarely know what I want unless it has to do with dessert.  But Dean always seems to know what I want and produce it.  Yes, he’s that good.

Bounce over to his site at www.liquidrealitystudios.com and have a look. Hit the about page and you’ll see all the stuff Liquid Reality Studios can do.  Oh, and while you’re at it, check out his blog and read his take on eBooks and ePublishing.

Why am I going my own way?

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Let me just be clear about one small point.  Writing a novel was on my Bucket List. What was not on my list was publishing a novel.  I wrote for myself, my family, and my friends.  Those  same people kept encouraging me to find a publisher for my work.  Blame them!

The problem came with the “who and how” for publishing.  Who would be interested and how would I find them?  I submitted a blurb in a contest and wound up being asked to submit the full manuscript, but that resulted in something less than a satisfying experience for me.  It wasn’t about being rejected, but it was about a level of arrogance on an executive editor’s part that was uncalled for.  That’s a story of its own.  But take a look around and what you’ll find is that there are very few print publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts and finding an agent is its own unique search.

What I’m not interested in, is being treated like a commodity.  The simple truth is that I prefer to be responsible for my own destiny.  Even in the military, I was frequently in one-deep positions.  I had a boss, but I worked alone for the most part.  My time was my own, and my responsibility was to accomplish my assigned duties.  Being an author is a lot like that.  I don’t need someone else to impose deadlines and restrictions – I’ll do it myself.

It’s also not about being able to work with someone.  I’m quite capable of getting along with others – most of the time.  And, for the record, I’m not afraid of criticism.  There are about ten people who beta-read for me, and trust me on this, they are not afraid to criticize me.  Sometimes I wish they were.  I listen to them (they’re smart people) but in the end, the person who decides what goes in is me.  That’s why I’m careful to only work with people who I respect.  The coolest thing about being on my own – I chose my own editor (poor Marcia is regretting that one), my cover designer, and the rest of my team.  Also for the record – I love my team.

There are two other reasons for me to do it this way.  They go hand-in-hand with each other.
Marketing and earnings.  I’m watching wonderful authors who have traditional publishers, and they are working their butts off to market their own books.  If I’m going to work that damn hard, then I want to keep a little more of the money.  Hold your mail – if you’re happy with your publisher, then I’m happy for you!  It’s not about you and your deal – this is about what makes me happy.

So as always, I’ll go my own way.  Being on my own, writing what I want to write, selling less, but making more on what I do sell, and working with a team of people that I respect and love.  For me, it simply doesn’t get any better than that.