The Open Author

Two months ago I wrote a brief post on ads in books. I said I was in favor of ads in books, as long as they weren’t too obtrusive. I still hold to that opinion, although I think now I’m becoming even more fond of the idea.

A company called Wowio is offering some of their ad-supported books for free. They currently specialize in graphic novels, but I think the idea is worth thinking about some more.

Ads in books are especially attractive for those that self-publish e-books. Let’s say I have a book on fly fishing. I sell this book for $2.99 on Amazon, and make roughly $2 per copy sold.

Now lets say I approach four online fly fishing retailers. I have a book that is being bought by those who are either serious about fly fishing, or those just getting into the hobby. Let’s say I charge each retailer 50 cents to put an ad in the book. I can now drop my price to 99 cents (Amazon won’t let self-publishers drop it to zero). The lower price sells more copies, but I’m making roughly the same amount.

This is a win-win for both parties. The retailers win because they get some pretty cheap and directed advertising. The author wins because they are selling more copies of the book, which drive them up the best-sellers list, and also helps increase word of mouth.

The retailers might be uncomfortable writing a blank check (what if you sell 10,000 copies, and they suddenly have to come up with $5,000), but you could see the ads in chunks. So the retailers give you $4,000, and after you’ve sold 2,000 books, the ads come out and the price goes back up.

I think unobtrusive ads in books will be a source of revenue in the future from which everybody will win. Readers will enjoy a lower price, merchants will have a way to direct their message to a targeted audience, and authors and publishers will have an additional revenue stream.

I’ve been on the road the past few days, and I wanted to get these two big news items on tonight.

The first is that the Nook will be available at Wal-Mart. Will that be enough to help lagging sales?

The second is that Amazon will allow users to lend e-books to other Kindle owners. It looks like it will be similar to the functionality on the Nook. As a Kindle owner, I’ll be able to lend to other Kindle owners for 2 weeks, during which time I won’t be able to access my copy. On the nook, you can only lend a book once, and only if the publisher allows.

Interesting idea for a Website. You can search for any book and see the price on the Kindle, the iPad, and the Nook.  Check out the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Quite a difference.

E-book sales continue to trend upward. No surprise there.

This website doesn’t look that impressive, but that’s because it’s built for the Kindle’s experimental browser. Very slick.

Kindle announces a “very special event” next week. Could it be the next generation Nook?

A while ago Amazon’s CEO said that iPads were for people who like to multi-task, and particularly those who play games. But the Kindle is for those who want to read. That doesn’t stop indie game developers from developing on the Kindle platform.

This list from 2007 points out ten reasons why the Kindle will fail.

Starbucks is looking to offer free e-books in their shops. People could read while they’re in the shop, and then the book disappears after they leave.

One author asks, “Why is Barnes & Noble even trying?“

I had to write a quick post about this  interview over at CNN.

Nicholas Negroponte is the professor who spearheaded the One Laptop Per Child initiative. He makes a bold prediction—that the print book will be gone in five years. While I fully expect e-books to continue to make strides in the US, I don’t think print books are going away. However, he gives an interesting reason why he makes his claim. He compares the digital book to cell phones.

Here in America we have our big desktops, our laptops that plug into our cable modems, and we’re sitting happy. But in lesser developed countries they don’t have many of these luxuries. Desktops are not practical, and it’s hard to get cable internet. Instead, they’ve leapfrogged us in technology, jumping right to smartphones. Negroponte points out that we didn’t adopt smartphones as rapidly as developing countries, simply because the laptop or desktop was good enough. But if you don’t have a laptop or desktop, then a smart phone looks much more appealing.

It’s the same way with books. It’s hard to get heavy books from one point to another. It ends up being expensive. You can store 3,000 books on a Kindle, and the ones in the public domain won’t cost you anything. So for the same price of buying and shipping three hardback books, you can have a Kindle with a life-time supply of books.

I see many benefits of e-books, both to authors and readers. But this is one benefit I hadn’t considered before.

Good post on the rise of piracy, and why it may be different from the Napster surge back in the 90’s.

Amazon is trying to bring back the novella. And instead of turning to publishers, they look directly at the authors. I think it’s a brilliant move.

Good article that looks at DRM in e-books. Nobody wins when DRM shows up at the party.

Minesweeper on the Kindle. Now go waste time.

Very interesting post on the L. A. Times blog. When the iPad came out, many people thought that would be the end of the Kindle. After all, why would anybody want to read in black and white when they could read in color? And have cool little animations when you turned the page?

Turns out people love the iPad, but also love the Kindle. It’s like comparing apples (no pun intended) and oranges. In fact, many households are reporting one spouse buying an iPad for surfing, e-mail, and movies, and the other spouse buying a Kindle for reading books, and then sharing the devices.

But what is surprising is that the sales of so many iPads is actually helping Amazon. The Kindle app is like a mini-store front on each iPad. Sure, many people buy books from iBooks, but a lot of people are buying them from Amazon as well. In fact, the article points out that the hard core readers, almost as many of them buy books from Amazon through the Kindle app as do books from iBooks. In other words, even if the iPad wins, and the Kindle goes the way of the dinosaur, Amazon may still win, or at least be a major player, in the e-book revolution.

This post follows up on last Tuesday’s post. I spoke a little bit about how easy it is to get books on the Kindle. Really what this comes down to is the subtle differences between print books and e-books.

I’m an author. I am lucky enough to get to hang around other authors, and the subject of books often comes up. I hear about all sorts of books, and I often think, “I’ll have to check that out.”

The problem I have is that when I get inside a library or book store, all of these books I want to read disappear from my mind.

One example of this is Jim Buthcher’s books called Storm Front. I’ve heard about this book for at least a year, but I’ve never got around to reading it. I saw it referenced again today, and now that I own a Kindle, I thought I’d check it out.

The book sells for $9 on Amazon. So for a moment, I wonder if I should buy it, or just check it out from the library. Then I see a button on the page. Try it free. Free. No cost. No barrier. I don’t have to go to the library, or remember the author or name of the book. It’s right there.

So I click the button. It’s now on my Kindle. And if the free sample blows my socks off, I’ll be buying the book.

Publishers can’t give away a print copy of the first chapter in the book store, but Amazon can. It’s a small change. It’s a subtle change, but it’s revolutionary. E-readers make it easier to buy books, plain and simple.

Okay, I guess I could have put this in the “latest news” section, but as an old school nerd, I felt it warranted a post all by it self. Check this out.

That’s right. You go to http://www.portablequest.com/default.aspx on your Kindle’s experimental browser, and you can play Zork on your Kindle. It looks like it may be a little buggy–the Kindle’s browser is listed as “experimental” afterall, but overall it looks like it works.

I don’t think I’m that interested in a Scrabble app, but I’d certainly buy a Zork app.

Several articles on Barnes & Noble’s new self-publishing platform called PutIt. B&N is following Amazon’s lead by giving 65% (Amazon is 70) to publishers/authors who self-publish through them, as long as the price is $2.99 and higher. This new service gives self-published authors one more avenue to get their work out to the public.

More news on Google Editions, which now may be delayed another month? The more I heard about GE, the more confused I get. Take this quote, for example:

With Google Editions, said Palma, “the role of publishers and booksellers as gatekeepers is going to become stronger. People are going to realize that free is not best.”

The only e-books that are free are those in the public domain, and I’m not sure that people will be cheering the fact that they have to pay for these books. And what does that have to do with publishers and booksellers being gatekeepers? If Google Editions really doesn’t launch for another six months, it may not even matter. By that time iBooks, Kindle, and Nook might be too big to topple.

Speaking of B&N, several analysts have cut their rating. Things aren’t looking so good for the bookstore chain.

I’m a pretty big fan of my new Kindle, but this article tries to tell you why you shouldn’t buy an e-reader.

A good article on why e-books are such a big deal. It’s more than just low prices, it’s about getting important books out to readers.

Some very interesting stats on e-book piracy. With more and more iPads and e-readers in the hands of consumers, it is not surprising piracy is on the rise.

When will Google Editions finally be released? Supposedly by the end of the year.

If you’re in the mood, and you live near a Staples, you should be able to go there today and buy a Kindle.

I came across a very interesting article a few days ago over at Forbes.

I have never self-published anything, but I’ve toyed around with the idea. Part of the idea of self-publishing appeals to me. You’re in the drivers seat when it comes to editing, cover choice, the name of your book, how you market, what you can do with your work, etc. That freedom is exhilarating. Of course the downside to self-publishing is that you have to do all of the extra work that a publisher usually handles. Editing, marketing, distribution, etc.

But one thing I’ve noticed is that publishers and literary agents don’t really like self-published authors. The general consensus is that if you self-publish, it’s because your material is so bad, nobody else wants to publish it.

I was talking with agents during an agent chat on Twitter a few months ago. The literary agents were all aligned in their disdain for self-published authors. One of them said, “If you have self-published you book, don’t bother even talking to me.”

From the article:

Literary agents have been the missing link for self-published writers trying to break through into mainstream publishing.  When I recently interviewed Keith Ogorek, VP for Marketing at the self-publishing conglomerate Author Solutions, he said agents with old-school attitudes were the biggest obstacles for his authors pursuing commercial publishers.

Personally, I think those attitudes are close-minded and out of touch. Does the agent think that the simple act of self-publishing makes that book unsellable? Or that an author who would consider self-publishing can’t be worked with? I’ve never understood the reluctance, and even the out-right refusal of some agents to work with proven self-published authors.

The article in Forbes goes on to talk about how more and more literary agents are changing their attitudes. I’ve said before on this site, self-publishing can be seen as a way to test the water. Agents and publishers have so many hard decisions to make, and really it comes down to trying to predict whether or not a book will sell. Sure, marketing a book will help sell copies, but really it comes down to what resonates with a reader.

We’ve all heard stories about now-famous authors who were rejected multiple times before being published. Who were the twelve agents and publishers who passed up on Harry Potter? With how easy it is to self-publish, agents can now see what is already selling–see what is popular–and then take that proven product and throw their services behind it to help it sell even better.

I really see it as a win-win for both authors and publishers. If I self-publish a book, and it’s selling fairly well, a publisher can come in and see that I’m a safe bet. They can help me with a better cover, better editing, distribution, and marketing. I’m happy because I sell more books, and they are happy because for them it’s a reasonably safe bet.

A few key quotes from the article: