Authors thank readers...

[fjtorres]

...and Amazon.
With testimonials from each.

Most, but not, all indies...
(400 and growing)

https://www.change.org/petitions/aut...-our-readers-2

Dear Readers,

Much is being said these days about changes in the book world, but not nearly enough is being said about the most important people in our industry.

You. The readers. Without you there wouldn’t be a book industry.

We owe you so much, and we are forever in your debt. Thank you for reading late into the night. Thank you for reading to your children. Thank you for missing that subway stop, for your word of mouth, your reviews, and your fan emails.

Thank you for seeking our books in so many ways—through brick and mortar stores, online, and in libraries. Thank you for enjoying these stories in all their forms—as digital books, paper books, and audiobooks.

We wanted this letter to be brief, but the topic is complicated. There is so much misinformation to correct, we wound up taking it point-by-point.

Much much more at the source.

And the schism grows...

[crossi]

Nice!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by crossi

Nice!

Yeah, nice to see that in the middle of all the wrangling over nickles and dimes, somebody somewhere still remembers whose nickels and dimes are footing the bill.

I'm not holding my breath to see Colbert or any other BPH hostages signing such a letter, or equivalent, even without the added infomercial.

[Crusader]

The petition is full of spin. It seems to have been put together by none other than Hugh Howey. It's not really much of a thank you to readers, but rather a love song to Amazon. I particularly like this part which basically describes this petition itself too:

"It’s painful to watch, dear reader, as you are subjected to so much self-serving industry and millionaire author propaganda."

Chuck Wendig has a nice rebuttal - http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014...n-as-underdog/

[DiapDealer]

I got a big kick out of this on Twitter. Authors there are falling all over each other in their haste to discuss how over-the-top-"ridiculous" (or weird) Howey is being with this petition (their sentiments, not mine).

As if authors encouraging authors to support Amazon is any more extreme than authors encouraging authors (and readers) to say f*** Amazon. *shrug*

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by Crusader

The petition is full of spin. It seems to have been put together by none other than Hugh Howey. It's not really much of a thank you to readers, but rather a love song to Amazon. I particularly like this part which basically describes this petition itself too:


Chuck Wendig has a nice rebuttal - http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014...n-as-underdog/

I agree that it's full of spin and open to criticism (which is unfortunate) but I appreciate why it was written and the core message is strong. I'd also state that it's intended as a counter argument to the spin coming from the likes of Douglas Preston, James Patterson and Stephen Colbert (which is also widely open to criticism). I like to see some balance.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I got a big kick out of this on Twitter. Authors there are falling all over each other in their haste to discuss how over-the-top-"ridiculous" (or weird) Howey is being with this petition (their sentiments, not mine).

As if authors encouraging authors to support Amazon is any more extreme than authors encouraging authors (and readers) to say f*** Amazon. *shrug*

Or more extreme than Colbert's stunt.

Taking it to the readers is a reaction to the NYPL Amazon linching party earlier this week.

I've been saying for a while that there was a schism brewing in publishing and it's looking to be headed for outright war now that the tradpub crowd are openly lobbying for anti-Amazon action by the government.

The traditionalists (rightly) see their livelihoods at risk but the moment they threatened political action they also threatened the livelihoods of indies everywhere. Coming after the recent Smashwords library fiasco, which came after an open call from a tradpub CEO to ghettoize indie titles, nerves were already on edge so some kind of reaction was overdue.

Especially in light of this stunt:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/ch...n-protest.html

Which has already been fisked by Konrath.

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/0...thors-who.html

The fight is on and it's no longer really about two companies negotiating contract terms. The fight has now moved on: it's the old millionaires country club vs the working stiffs.

Yes, it's turned into CADDYSHACK.

With readers stuck in middle.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Barcey

I'd also state that it's intended as a counter argument to the spin coming from the likes of Douglas Preston, James Patterson and Stephen Colbert (which is also widely open to criticism). I like to see some balance.

So does Howey, who admitted last night that when it was *his* books that B&N refused to stock to pressure S&S, he suggested telling his fans to politely ask for them at B&N stores and was told in no uncertain terms to do *nothing* because it might embarrass B&N.
(He was backing up a fellow victim told to grin and bear it by S&S.)

Less than a day after that post, comes the letter.

Edit: found the links:
http://www.thepassivevoice.com/07/20...comment-223340

[fjtorres]

Slashdot picked up on it:
http://slashdot.org/submission/36731...e-of-the-story

[TimW]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Which has already been fisked by Konrath.

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/0...thors-who.html

The fight is on and it's no longer really about two companies negotiating contract terms. The fight has now moved on: it's the old millionaires country club vs the working stiffs.

Yes, it's turned into CADDYSHACK.

With readers stuck in middle.

Caddyshack was a cool movie. I especially liked the part where Konrath dropped his anchor through Douglas Preston's boat, The Flying Cartel.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by TimW

Caddyshack was a cool movie. I especially liked the part where Konrath dropped his anchor through Douglas Preston's boat, The Flying Cartel.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

It's turned into class warfare.

[Crusader]

Here's another very interesting take on things from Brian McClellan - http://www.brianmcclellan.com/blog/t...of-a-good-book

So, to recap, Orbit pays me the traditional industry standard on my novels because they invested between $34K and $60K into each of my novels. NOT INCLUDING MY ADVANCE.

Sure, my self-published short stories and novellas pay me between 35% and 70%. But do you know how much Amazon has invested in me? $0.

Would I love for the industry standard to be higher? Of course I would! But I understand why it's not, and I'm learning to diversify because this is what I do for a living.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Crusader

Here's another very interesting take on things from Brian McClellan - http://www.brianmcclellan.com/blog/t...of-a-good-book

Of course, for that (low) 5-figure "industry standard" investment, they control the book for a hundred years.
For Amazon's zero investment they control it until the author clicks "unpublish" the first time Amazon annoys them enough.
Yup, definitely adds context.

I'll seeya and raise:
http://brennaaubrey.net/2013/12/08/i...-self-publish/



Look, I understand where the tradpub authors are coming from: they signed the best deal they could get based on the world they lived in way back when. It isn't pleasant to wake up in a different world where the best deal they could get is widely disparaged and places him at a disadvantage to newcomers, to say nothing of veterans who managed to get rights reverted before tradpub stopped allowing rights reversion. (It's like signing a 6%mortgage and not being able to refinance when everybody else is getting 3% deals.)

But pretending things haven't changed serves nobody but the old discredited regime.

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Taking it to the readers is a reaction to the NYPL Amazon linching party earlier this week.

Actually I believe it's a reaction to Douglas Preston's open letter appealing to readers to contact Jeff Bezos and complain about Amazon's negotiating tactics. Chris Meadows has a write up on it on Teleread with a link to the PDF letter.

www.teleread.com/ebooks/douglas-preston-decries-amazon-tactics-against-hachette-authors/

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Barcey

Actually I believe it's a reaction to Douglas Preston's open letter appealing to readers to contact Jeff Bezos and complain about Amazon's negotiating tactics. Chris Meadows has a write up on it on Teleread with a link to the PDF letter.

www.teleread.com/ebooks/douglas-preston-decries-amazon-tactics-against-hachette-authors/

The release yes, Konrath says so in his piece.
But they were working on a response since before the Preston piece was "leaked".

In the discussion of the lynching there was talk of finding ways to get their story out. *Something* was coming, even before mr "readers feel entitled to cheap books" spoke out again. And more somethings are coming.

For example, we should be seeing a new Authors Earnings report fairly soon. That should add some more wood to the fire. Data Guy has been hinting the spider has a few tricks up its line...