Are Writers being exploited?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You probably wouldn't believe the number of authors who post here at MR who are seemingly completely incapable of following our instructions concerning promotion.

Hey! I resemble that remark!...

[HarryT]

Not you, Steven - you're one of the "good guys"!

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Not you, Steven - you're one of the "good guys"!

Only on good days. (Ask around.)

But it's a good point: Authors are responsible for writing good stories. As far as everything else; they're on their own.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Only on good days. (Ask around.)

But it's a good point: Authors are responsible for writing good stories. As far as everything else; they're on their own.

Troublemaker!

[Scott Nicholson]

There sure are millions out there eager to be exploited!

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Scott Nicholson

There sure are millions out there eager to be exploited!

That's why it was so easy: Provide the promise of turning a nobody author into a sensation, then tell them: "If you don't like our deal, there are about 20,000 guys behind you who'd love to take a crack at it." Whenever you have an imbalance like that, you get exploitation.

[Pulpmeister]

I have had three books published. They were all published commercially--ie not vanity publishing--and they were all highly specialised nonfiction niche books with a potential market from tiny to unknown.

If the publishers hadn't been game enough to take a punt, and carry the financial risk, none of them would have been published. Fortunately, they all got their money back, two of the three sold out (eventually) and the third is still in print.

Publishers are not evil. They want good authors that the public likes, and they all hope to find a new unknown author who goes through the roof--J K Rowling was an unknown who did just that.

One thing to remember is that when a book sells for 25 dollars cover price, and the author gets ten percent of cover, as I did (and do), the remaining 90 percent isn't profit to the publisher. It's just income which has to cover overheads as well as the capital cost of preparing, marketing printing and distributing the book.

A lot of books never make a profit at all. Like movies, there are expensive flops. Every so often the UK investigative journalism/satirical magazine Private Eye runs a list of worst-sellers, putting highly advertised advances against numbers sold. It makes sobering reading when a 50 thousand pound advance on a highly touted book results in (as in one case) 257 copies being sold.

I self-published a digital edition of my first book some years ago, as a CD-ROM (a website on a disc)--it had a lot of text and 800 photos, many in colour, I'd never heard of e-books, and it wouldn't work on a Kindle anyway. I eventually got all my money back and have now made a modest profit, but I was sweating for a while.

Publishing printed books is a huge gamble.

If you want to talk about exploitation, think of websites such as social networks, youtube, etc; these are basically digital on-line magazines/cum TV stations which get all their content for nothing, on which to hang their adverts. The publisher's dream. Sure it's handy to park your video clips on youtube to share, but its even handier for youtube.

The authors/photographers etc get nothing but dubious satisfaction.

[charlesatan]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You probably wouldn't believe the number of authors who post here at MR who are seemingly completely incapable of following our instructions concerning promotion.

Unfortunately I sometimes post in the wrong forum (not intentionally though)

[Rizla]

Marx was right again.

[murraypaul]

“Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book -and does”
― Groucho Marx

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by charlesatan

Unfortunately I sometimes post in the wrong forum (not intentionally though)

Mistakes happen.

It's the intentional abusers [spammers] who get the radar going...

....Read a website's guidelines before making a post.



Don
(Moderator)

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Exploitation can be looked at in various ways. I (and a number of other artists) are working on a TV project we hope to get off the ground. Right now, we're producing content for no compensation. If the show gets picked up, we should all make some good cash. If it doesn't, all our work is pretty much wasted... we might not even have rights to it once its offered to the studios by the show's creator.

So... exploitation? Speculation? Pick your description, it's all pretty much the same.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by Scott Nicholson

There sure are millions out there eager to be exploited!

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

That's why it was so easy: Provide the promise of turning a nobody author into a sensation, then tell them: "If you don't like our deal, there are about 20,000 guys behind you who'd love to take a crack at it." Whenever you have an imbalance like that, you get exploitation.

Originally Posted by Pulpmeister

I have had three books published. They were all published commercially--ie not vanity publishing--and they were all highly specialised nonfiction niche books with a potential market from tiny to unknown.

If the publishers hadn't been game enough to take a punt, and carry the financial risk, none of them would have been published. Fortunately, they all got their money back, two of the three sold out (eventually) and the third is still in print.

Publishers are not evil. They want good authors that the public likes, and they all hope to find a new unknown author who goes through the roof--J K Rowling was an unknown who did just that.

One thing to remember is that when a book sells for 25 dollars cover price, and the author gets ten percent of cover, as I did (and do), the remaining 90 percent isn't profit to the publisher. It's just income which has to cover overheads as well as the capital cost of preparing, marketing printing and distributing the book.

A lot of books never make a profit at all. Like movies, there are expensive flops. Every so often the UK investigative journalism/satirical magazine Private Eye runs a list of worst-sellers, putting highly advertised advances against numbers sold. It makes sobering reading when a 50 thousand pound advance on a highly touted book results in (as in one case) 257 copies being sold.

I self-published a digital edition of my first book some years ago, as a CD-ROM (a website on a disc)--it had a lot of text and 800 photos, many in colour, I'd never heard of e-books, and it wouldn't work on a Kindle anyway. I eventually got all my money back and have now made a modest profit, but I was sweating for a while.

Publishing printed books is a huge gamble.

If you want to talk about exploitation, think of websites such as social networks, youtube, etc; these are basically digital on-line magazines/cum TV stations which get all their content for nothing, on which to hang their adverts. The publisher's dream. Sure it's handy to park your video clips on youtube to share, but its even handier for youtube.

The authors/photographers etc get nothing but dubious satisfaction.

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Exploitation can be looked at in various ways. I (and a number of other artists) are working on a TV project we hope to get off the ground. Right now, we're producing content for no compensation. If the show gets picked up, we should all make some good cash. If it doesn't, all our work is pretty much wasted... we might not even have rights to it once its offered to the studios by the show's creator.

So... exploitation? Speculation? Pick your description, it's all pretty much the same.

When you go fishing, you spend time and money acquiring equipment and traveling to the lake or river and when finally there waiting for a bite. In the easily accessible places you will see other people doing the same thing, and on some holidays you will see a lot of people waiting for a bite. You can try different types of fishing, and some you will like and some you might be successful at.

The point is that while there is no guarantee of success if you try to catch a fish, there is a guarantee of failure if you don't try.

Being an author is like that.