The Wood Beyond The World Forum Electronic Publishing, is it a..

Its been awhile since I posted a topic for thought, so heres a new one.  This is just one in a series of posting I will be doing on the state of Electronic publishing.  

I want to start with what a very well respected agent in the industry has to say about electronic publishing, and eBooks in particular. The following is taken directly from an article that Donald Maass wrote in 2005 on the new frontier of electronic publishing. For those unfamiliar with DM, he is a top NYC literary agent who keeps up with the latest forms of publishing. His clients typically get 6 figure advances. Here's what DM has to say.

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Hello everyone:

The electronic book is finally here to stay. As you may know, three new electronic book readers have come on the market this year, (2005), the best known being the Rocket eBook from NuvoMedia, Inc. The consensus is that these new products will last, ...drop in price and grow in popularity. 

This is an exciting development; one full of potential benefit for authors and consumers alike. At the same time, the new electronic landscape is fraught with danger to authors, their rights, their income, and the publishing industry itself.

eBook sales will profoundly change international publishing. It is not going to far to say that the viability of British Publishing -- and, by extension, the very health of British literature -- is endangered. We must think very carefully before we rush into this new frontier. The prededent we set now...will last for many years to come.

So what is my position?

First, the new eBooks cannot be easily copied or shared. By contrast other electronic text used online, (those using non encrypted formating such as PDF for instance), are hightly vulnerable to copying.

The new eBooks, on the other hand, are heavily encrypted and can only be read by the purchaser on their personal eBook reader.  They can not share with others with out also loaning the reader, which is like loaning your stereo system so someone can listent to one music CD. (The Rocket ebook reader runs about $499.)

At this time, no one is losing serious or even sizeable amounts of money. To date, there are only a few hundred titles currently available for eBooks and most are out of print works, ie classics.  AT the recent AAR, (agents association), sales reports of all available titles combined are running in the low four figures.  (2005)

The next point to understand is that authors are not licensing their titles to these eBook publishers, but are granting licensing rights in which royalties will eventually be paid. Note the word, eventually. So why not license titles directly?

First, in most cases, we do not control electronic text rights. Back in 1984 when CD-Roms looked like the coming thing, a huge battle was fought over electronic rights. Publishers tried to gab everything forever and set absurdly low rates of compensation. The battle was settled when a position paper issued by the AAR separated electronic "text" rights from electronic "multimedia" rights. Text were deemed another form of the book, and control was ceded to publishers. Multimedia product were deemed adaptions, as with a movie, and control was generally retained by the authors.

The second reason we cannot yet license directly is that for individuals, the entry cost is too high. Printed books or electronic files must be converted to the eBooks encrypted format. The eBooks must then be maintained on a server to which the eBooks have 24 hour access for downloading. Fee's for administration must also be paid. Author groups may someday form to make direct licensing possible, but for now, ebooks are only dealing with publishers. (Excluding those that publish ebooks via computer/ipod or cell phone readers that use PDF formats and can be copied endlessly and resent for free, without any control or royalties paid.)

Now lets talk royalties. The authors share comes out of the publishers share. In retail, the split is 3 ways. ebooks keep 20%, retailer gets 40% and publisher get the other 40%. So if the author gets 10% of the publishers 40%, that is only 4%, which is low. Also, consider that currently, authors are getting higher royalties in the printed versions, which cost more to produce for the publisher. So in electronic publishing, the publisher, retailer, and eBook provider is getting the larger share.

Also, since eBooks will be sold online, they can be ordered from anywhere in the world. Fantastic for the consumer. Not so good for the authors. Supporse you have a British editon of your book that sells for higher amount than the American version. Now the consumers can bypass this edition and buy the American edition at a lower cost. Good for the consumer, bad for the author, and bad for British Publishing in general. This will also make it harder for American authors to sell rights to a British or U.K. publisher who is already working on razor thin magins and want first rights for publishing in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Otherwise, its is not even worth publishin. A pre-existing eBook will make it more meaningful for these publishers to pass when offered a U.S. title.

Now, Maybe you believe in the benefits of competition or just want to make a buck any way you can. Whats wrong with that?

Here's what's wrong; commerce may grow in open market, but culture draws its strength from diversity. We need a healthy and separate British literature, which means a healthy British publishing industry. eBooks are a direct threat and once the British publishing industry tumbles, it will not be long before other publishing industries follow suite. Commerce grows, but culter and diversity dies.

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And so there you have part of what Donald Maass has to say about the new wave of publishing. Electronic publishing, may be the wave of the future, but its going to be limited and its the publishers that will gain and not the authors as the current rates and terms are set. There is also less protection. Yes, its a brave new world, but lets not throw the baby out with the bath water just yet.

Next, I will add electronic rights and why authors are not as protected as they may think they are. Which will include most forms of epublishing that is not encrypted,  ie, blogs, ezines, ebooks on line, and even here in this forum.

Ok...so, while most of us have not published a single word yet, many of us have heard or been approached about epublishing.    So, what are your thoughts?   I particularly liked Donalds reference to the domino effect of what will happen if the British/U.K, publishers fall.  Why are they so important?  The rest of Europe competes with the British for sales and rights, and because American and British authors write in a common language, we American authors want to sell our work to British publishers as well, who in turn will sell in other countries they have deals with....meaning, more readers, more $$$.

Nick.

I would like to add a side note from the main text.   While this was taken from a longer article that is now over two years old, and the the Rocket eBook is all but forgotten, the article is not so much about the device used as it is about the unknown consequences of this type of publishing and of course, protection of the writers product.

Just this year, an accquaintance of mine entered into an agreement that has a short story of his now being downloaded onto the iphone.  Will Entrent if anyone cares to look him up.  The piece is not bad, but it also is not great.  He was the first and agreed as an experiment to get his name out there.   He got a few $$$ for the rights, but that was not his driving factor.   Last time he contacted me, he said  that so far, over 500 downloads have been done.  (Iphone sold over 1 million on the last report I read more than a month back), so that means 1 out of every 2 thousand iphone users have downloaded it.  Not bad odds, but the question remains, what is to prevent iphone users from sending it to a friend, or downloading it onto their computer and then mass emailing it all their friends.  Nothing.  And Will E understands this and looks at it differently.   It was an experiment to get his name out there, and if someone is mass emailing it, then so much the better for getting his name out there.   Will, is not an idiot, and is well educated and has apprenticed with a publishing firm during his grad year, as I understood his bio.  He is in his final year of his MFA and also teaches creative writing to underclassmen at Berkley...I think.

But - Will, would be the first to tell you that he would not want his longer work, a full novella or novel to go this route.   Who wants to read War and Peace on a 3"X3" screen.  And then there is the verifible downloads and royalty accounting that is harer to keep track of.

So, please do not look at this about the device, but about the process and where it is headed.    I do not believe that ezine's and enews will fold anytime soon.   I get alot of my news via the internet anymore and I am finding that it often time beats my daily paper, The Washington Post, to the story.   And epublishing, I doubt it will ever replace traditional publishing,  but is meant more as a suppliment to publishing.  

Any thoughts from our younger members who have grown up on electronic games and computers?   Would you buy a ebook to download to your computer?  More importantly, would you sell you work to an epublisher that does not encrypt?

Nick.

There is a much newer article on Publishers Weekly that addresses electronic publishing as it exist today; the possibilities and the pit falls, on their blogs.   Just if anyone is interested.   Its really a very interesting and informative article, though it is loaded with tech talk.

Nick.

Dear Nick,

Glad to see you are well.

Seems this is not a very active group.  I check most every day for activity.  I am glad to see you stirring things up.

As old as I am I don't even buy green bananas, so you'll understand if I cannot take much interest in the subject of this thread.

Seems to me that until people all have the technology to download books and carry their readers around in their pockets, authors had better try their best to get their stories printed in actual ink.

I think for the rest of my life the protection of intellectual property appearing on the web will remain precarious at best.

Approaching agents and having them sell our work to publishers seems a pretty good system.  The agents are the gatekeepers.  Anything presented to publishers by reputable agents likely has a good chance of being published, as the publisher will see such works as already well-vetted.  So, the great hurdle for any manuscript must, for the foreseeable future, remain its finding its way into the hands of a healthy and reputable agent who loves author's story/style/tone.  Our challenge will remain to present agents with what they love.

Bill

Bill,

It is always good to have you chiming in.   I agree that the group has become a little less active, but I am sure The Wood is not forgotten by its members.

As to the topic, I could not agree with you more on, write something that is good first and then find a good agent without worrying about all the what ifs of electronic publishing.   Still, in this new age of electronic information and entertainment, I thought it a worth while topic for some of our younger members who may be thinking about going this route. 

Personally, I hope electronic books will never replace the printed book.  I love the feel, smell, and texture of the printed book, turning the page, and feeling it turn in my hands.   But then, 20 years ago I was brought into the computer age screaming and kicking on my construction projects.  I was computer savy, for word programs and gaming, but to use one to help me on my projects.  Hogwash. 

I felt I did not need a stinking computer to help me with my projects.  Just give me the blueprints, a phone/fax machine and get out of my way.  Today, with the computer, I can keep track of man hours, time lines, and modify schedules in minutes what use to take me days to do.  I can also get up to the minute weather reports when needed while doing steel lifts, concrete pours, or even paving, all which are important to know during the process.  I can even take and send pictures of structural problems to our engineers in Minneapolis and get answers back in hours and keep the project moving, instead of sending by snail mail and have days or weeks go by before getting a resolution.

And lets abmit it...the computer with a good word processing program is indispensible to the writer.  So the question still begs, while electronic publishing may not be the wave of the near future, does it have relevance, especiaally if its another revenue generating product for the writers of the future.  

I have another accquaintence that does nothing but write blogs and new letters and she is making a very comfortable living.  Yes, in all essence she is self employed, and has no company pension plan, and pays for all her own medical insurance, but she still makes a very comfortable living at electronic journalism, if that is what you want to call it. 

Now here's the catch...she has admitted that while this is how she makes a living, she would not publish anything over a short story this way.   For many of the reasons stated.   Her #1 arguement; after working on a computer all day or night, the last thing she wants to do to relax is to read a book on a computer or other electronic reader.  

So to our younger members, I again ask for your opinions since many of you will be not only the writers of the future, but the readers of the future as well.

Nick. 

Nick, Bill, and whoever's lurking:

I'm coming in on this late, of course, but at least I'm here.

I agree that electronic publishing probably won't have much of an impact for longer works until a huge chunk of the population has habitual access to it -- when I first went to work for B&N 9 years ago it was being talked about -- the stores would have kiosks where customers could download books onto readers, etc.  Still hasn't materialized.  It might take another generation for this trend to be fully realized -- today's kids, accustomed to texting and email as primary forms of communication, will have to grow up and have disposable income.  I think the boomers who are the book-buying public right now are habituated to the paper and ink format, and won't readilly abandon it.

As to sharing electronic media and robbing publishers and authors of income -- don't we already use public libraries, lend and borrow books among friends and relatives, etc? Don't used bookstores resell? -- not to mention rummage sales, the "used" categories on Amazon, etc.

Electronic transmission is still full of holes as far as original rights and payment are concerned, though.  I have mixed feelings about that.  My anarchist heart tells me that property is theft, and the more free stuff and free exchange of ideas -- truly free -- there is, the better.  But my desire to earn my living by my creativity impringes on that judgment a little.

I too would like to see some reflections here from our younger Woodfolk. If I don't see some soon, I'll start messaging y'all.

Good to hear your two cents worth Leah.  I knew that you having worked  at B&N, you would have good insight.  In Japan, they already have those Kiosk and the number one downloaded product...Anamie Porn.  lol.  That is hard to say with a straight face.

As a subtext to all this electronic publishing; for those who are paying attention, the Writers Guild of America is supporting the TV and Movie writers who are on strike in hollywood and New York. 

One of the reasons that the writers are on strike is because of electronic rights.  Mainly...the internet and other new forms of electronic devices in which movies and shows can be downloaded.   Currently, a writer in movies and TV get paid a flat fee.   But with the advent of the internet and other forms of devices, the writers are wanting more recognition and percentages just like song writers get from recording labels.  They already get residual earnings from reruns on TV, but nothing has been done about the internet where the capacity for downloads is higher than walking into Best Buy and getting an entire 1st, 2nd or 3rd season of CSI on DVD.  

So if anyone thinks that electronic media, whatever form it be, does not pose a delimma for writers because of copyright issues, pay attention to this strike.  I am  not saying it is not about money...but money is just the expression of payment for work performed, and if the work is being multisourced from its orginal intent, then the writers need to have a say about rights as well.   After all, without the writers, there will be no CSI, no Guiding Light, or Sponge Bob Square Pants.   Watch and see if Hollywood does not outsource more of this work.   AFter all, our Canadian friends are not on strike and the cultures are similar. 

What say you Loeki, ready to write for One Life to Live?

Nick.

A few more reflections --

The type of book that is most likely to appeal in a downloadable format is probably the beach-read -- the perennial best-selling author's latest, that you read when it comes out and never open again.  Classics, books you fall in love with that are rich enough to return to again and again -- those will always be more popular in print.  Come to think of it, for me, even a somewhat disposable work can have a kind of permanent appeal -- comfort food-like -- I might want to pick it up again some time just for mindless enjoyment in times of stress, when my mind is too preoccupied for anything more challenging.  Such a book I'd want in print -- probably a cheap paperback -- something that I wouldn't freak out over if I dropped it in the bathtub or forgot it on the bus., but that would have a physical presence somewhere on my bookshelf.

It would truly be better if romance series and other pulp fiction titles (and pornographc manga) were widely read as electronic downloads -- most of those published and delivered to bookstores wind up in the trash without being sold anyway (boxes and boxes of stripped copies every month.)  We'd at least save some trees. 

More and more companies are going paperless so I guess books is just one of those that eventurally will go that route, but I think unlike banking and doctors, insurance and other industries, I think the reading public will revolt because of the convience of the printed book.   You can take it anywhere, do not have to recharge batteries, and not worry about someone steeling it from your car.

While going paperless might work in the office and be considered going green.   I was reading a report by Green Peace in which they state that electronic devices, especially those that require batteries are  the new threat to the enviroment.   The componants are not bio-degradeable, and they use to many heavy metals.   At least paper is bio-degradebale.   The list included not just laptops, but cell phones, ipods, and other such devices.   Green piece wants the batteries recycled, but then the cost in energy out put to not only recycle but to make these batteries is very high.

Will have to wait and see how this all plays out as well.   Electronic publishing....many questions, good and bad.

Nick. 

I see Amazon has released its new e-reader called Kindle.   $400 dollars, and the screen looks like ink on paper, or so they say.   Amazon is claiming 90,000 books will be available.   But I have to wonder how many of those will be from the Print on Demand writers?  They say many of the classic's as well as top rated selling books will be available.   The trouble is that depending on word count of a story, your reader is limited to how many books it can hold.   And since its based on wireless technology and you can download from anywhere like a cell phone, and the books are encrypted, once read you will not be able to down load onto a standard computer to save.  So if you want a new book, and you are at your limit, you have to delete one or more to download a new book. 

But I paid for it.   Why do I want to delete it and lose it forever.  At least wtih paper stock books I can put it on a shelf, loan it to a friend, (here sign my check out form), or come back to it years later if I want to reread.   Lastly there is this, at apx $10 a download, and lets say you have 40 books on your reader and then someone steels your reader, you are now out $400 for the books, $400 for the reader, for a total of $800.  Ouch.

Just an update on Electronic publishing from the groups nay-sayer.

Nick.

I think the kindle thing would be best for college students to have compact versions of textbooks to haul to class.  Textbooks are very expensive anyway, and way too large, for the most part.

I agree with your objections, Nick.

Ron wants me to watch the George C. Scott "A Christmas Carol" with him, so I've got to go.

I'll be back, though.

Found this today while surfing the web, thought I would share...

This won't come as a massive surprise to most, but author Nick Hornby isn't so into e-books. After walking into a British Borders book store to find the £399 ($790) Iliad for sale next to some £4 paperbacks, he poo-poo'd the platform in a guest column on the Penguin Blog. So here we have a book author blogging on a book publisher's site about the downfalls of a technology that could supplant his industry. To be fair, he does make some salient points about the unlikelihood that e-books will replace print in the same way iPods have undermined CD sales. He points out that people, on average, only buy seven books a year compared to the number of CDs they used to buy. In addition, book readers just like books and tend to be suspicious of new technology. Finally, he goes back to the iPod: the popularity of portable entertainment devices, what with their TV shows, games, movies, and other fancy schmancy doohickeys will continue to make the notion of reading a book -- even in electronic format -- not so tempting.

I found several things reported here that intrigue me.   The number of books people buy a year.   Obviously, we as writers perhaps buy more than 7 books a years.   But I have asked around by friends and other associates, and the numbers of books bought are low.  Excluding how to, cook books, medical self help stuff and the like.   Yet most of my friends do not think twice about buying a new CD of music or DVD to add to their collections on a weekly basis.   This does say something about the reading habits of our intended audience, does it not?     With this in mind, I have to agree with Mr. Hornsby that the average reader is not going to spend big $$$ on a readers and more $$$ to download books they may or may not read.   The expense is really the factor I think.  The technology is new and while electronic readers may become as popular as ipods in the future, I think they will be geared more towards researchers, students, and such looking for a quick reference here and there, or how too.  

Just some additional thoughts on this new wave of electronic publishing during our summer slow down. 

Nick.