 | 19 Oct 09 |
So it’s nearly 1:30 AM on Monday and I’m coming off a 48-hour writing binge. I didn’t quite reach my goal, but I’m still happy with what I got done. I have a few more pages left to polish, but I edited most of the day today (Sunday) and I’m really happy with it. It’s solid work. I have to pack it in now, because this blog post is due and I’m tired enough to start making silly typo mistakes (if you find some in here, I hope you forgive them), but if I had more time and energy, I’d still be writing. There’s plenty more story waiting to get from my brain onto the page. Instead you’ll get an off the cuff blog post from me that I hope doesn’t make you cross-eyed.
I disconnected in order to get so much done. I shut off my Outlook and all my instant message programs. I ignored the phone. The family did all the cooking. In the vacuum created by the lack of distractions, I connected with my characters and my story in a way I needed to and I hit “the zone.” I love that. I’ve missed that.
When I first started writing in Fall ‘03, I wasn’t a member of RWA. I used the internet for sending e-mail and Christmas shopping, but that’s it. When I sat down to write, there was nothing to get in the way. What else would I do at the computer? E-mail was sparse and social networking wasn’t around yet. Or if it was, no one I knew was aware of it. How times have changed.
But that’s okay and I’m not complaining about the things that take us away from writing. As the burden of book promotion continues to fall more and more heavily on the author, it’s to be expected that the promotional avenues that are inexpensive or free of monetary cost require an investment of time instead. And let’s face it, social networking can be fun and rewarding.
Being more accessible online is just one of the many changes that have been happening in the industry since I first began writing. Looking back to those days when I first started, so much is different now.
Some of the bigger book news from last week:
B. Dalton bookstores are closing forever — Wow. I’m so bummed about that. The bookstores in malls are always a stop for me during holiday shopping. Now some malls don’t have any bookstores at all. Waldenbooks has been steadily closing for years. Soon they’ll be gone, too.
Walmart jumps into online bookselling with both feet — not only that, but they’re starting a new program called “America’s Reading List” through which they’ll be offering give 50% off or more on 200 current bestsellers. (I remember when they cut the size of their book departments just a couple years ago. This big push for books is quite a turnaround from that.) Most bookstores, including the chains (who usually sell books at full sticker price), can’t compete with that. And why is $9.99 for an ebook “unrealistically low”?
Barnes& Noble is getting ready to unveil a hot new e-reader — I’m hoping more of these devices are all-inclusive when it comes to file format. And I’m dying to see what Apple’s iTablet will be like.
What do you think will be next? How different will book selling and publishing be in a year? Two years? What do you wish would happen?
And I can’t forget this: Lorena’s comment number was selected by Random.org to win my Brava backlist. Thank you, everyone, for your comments.
Sylvia Day is the national bestselling, award-winning author of seventeen novels. A wife and mother of two, she is a former Russian linguist for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence. In addition to her novels, she’s written numerous novellas and short stories for both print and electronic-original release. Sylvia’s work has been called “wonderful and passionate” by WNBC.com and “wickedly entertaining” by Booklist. Her stories have been translated into Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Czech, and Thai. She’s been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, the EPPIE award, the National Readers' Choice Award, and multiple finalist nominations for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award of Excellence.
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Book selling is always going to be about books. The argument is going to shift away from copyright of a product, though, to content. Is your book copyrighted or is the word document you created it the protected document. As we shift into greater online focus, there will be a greater demand for content on demand, which will tempt publishers to speed up the publishing process. This may allow writers to get more content out there but will the quality slip? The first open source e-reader will revolutionize online book sales, paving the way as a kindle killer. The still mythical apple tablet has the potential for this with Stanza but that depends on people being able to transfer their amazon editions to another format.
by Jessica Scott October 19th, 2009 at 4:08 amThe big conversation is going to be about format wars as a device trys to seize and hold market dominance.
Great Topic!
OK, I’ve been in Canada for a week with very limited time for the web, so I’m going to say Hi, and then go back and read everything I missed. (I did manage to get some recaps and pix on my blog, though)
I love that e-readers are becoming more prevalent. I hate that it’s still all about the formatting. It should be about the content.
And why is $9.99 a LOW price? Compared to a hard cover, maybe, but my books are more like $6.99 in digital format.
by Terry Odell October 19th, 2009 at 4:48 amWhen my books comes out next spring, the ebook will run $6.00 USD compared to $12.99 USD print–directly from my publisher. That seems fair pricing to me. My publisher is DRM free (a whole ‘nother can of worms and I’m glad that decision was made–has to do with file sharing for those unfamiliar with the term) and in all formats but Kindle. It will be available at a higher cost from Amazon for Kindle.
I’d like an ereader but I’m technologically challenged so I’ve been waiting (not to mention the whole beta vs. VHS thing of Kindle/Sony/?? going on).
I remember when we typed out a manuscript and sent it off and paid to have it returned if it was rejected because who wanted to retype the darn thing! Now? I just sent off a full attached to an email. Wow!
I’m off the jury duty….*sigh*
by Silver James October 19th, 2009 at 5:10 amI can’t stand audio books and reading to long on the computer gives me a headache from the glare. Nothing beats having a book in hand.
by K M Britt October 19th, 2009 at 5:34 amThank you for the great update post SJ.
by RKCharron October 19th, 2009 at 7:15 amI love how interconnected everything is becoming.
I hope you have a wonderful week.
Love & Best Wishes,
RKCharron
xoxo
Wow, S.J., I need to stay more on top of things! What an eye opening post! Though I’m not up to speed on the technology changes, I can definitely reiterate that things are changing fast!
by Debra webb October 19th, 2009 at 9:12 amI think one of the changes will be video chats — writers, instead of traveling to a bookstore in an area, will be video-conferenced in live. There’s even a signature machine that was invented a while back where the author can sign on one end at the machine and the book placed into its corresponding machine at the other end creates the actual signature — so it can be personalized. I would imagine this is going to get adapted pretty quickly to computer software simply using a stylus on the author’s end and something similarly easy on the recipient’s end.
I think in the Google Wave software is going to change interaction online because everything will be more integrated, and threaded discussions will be easier to follow.
I think we’ll see the creation of smaller, online-only and specialty-focused publishers who will try to beat the clutter of the marketplace by becoming known as the house who publishes a specific kind of fiction. Right now, people don’t think of a specific publisher’s name because those publishers are so big. But the various imprints have their own focus and personality and at some point, the publishers are going to see the advantage of that imprint having its own portal and personality online, creating a reputation for that kind of fiction. We’re going to go from a super conglomerate attitude to a smaller-is-better, specific-is-marketable attitude.
Great subject, Syl! Glad you were able to be so focused on the writing!
by toni mcgee causey October 19th, 2009 at 9:20 ami’m about to go unplugged myself.
by Karin Tabke October 19th, 2009 at 2:40 pmGlad I stopped by… I didn’t know about B. Dalton
How sad.
by Ali October 19th, 2009 at 4:48 pmWhat I would like is an ereader that let’s me put my ebooks in different files
I want an e-reader for Christmas soooo bad.
I think I like the unplug idea. I need to do that to get some serious writing done.
by Jill James October 19th, 2009 at 5:16 pm