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#256 | |
Wizard
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Maybe they could make them take a test before submitting the work. |
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#257 | ||
New York Editor
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______ Dennis |
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#258 | |
New York Editor
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In recent years, Tor has taken to crediting the editor of a book on the colophon page. Whether this happens is up to the editor. Tor Editor In Chief Beth Meachum resisted for some time, feeling it was the author's book, not hers, but I believe she finally allowed it. _______ Dennis |
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#259 | |
Maria Schneider
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Pro editors do not want their name out there for the most part because enterprising young authors will then say, 'Hey, I loved this book and the editing is top-notch. I'm going to submit to this editor. If editor-so-so liked this book, they'll LOVE mine.' Don't think it doesn't happen. When an editor goes to a writing conference, many of the writers will have fully researched the books she had edited--know them by name, will have read them in some cases and are quite prepared for the pitch. So while an editor probably appreciates the recognition, she also probably doesn't want her name bandied about too freely. Agents are the same way. They get thanked, but not often as "my agent" full name. |
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#260 | |
Maria Schneider
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Include SASE, the name of the editor for your type of fiction (fantasy versus sci/fi or non-fiction versus fiction, etc). If you don't follow the instructions, they don't even READ the submission. Don't know what SASE means? Too bad. Haven't got time to educate every newbie on the block. No, I don't care if I just threw away genius. There will be plenty more genius in the next mail bag-- Editors have so much to choose from they are going to turn down some very good stuff with the bad. That's just the way it is. The competition is stiff enough that it *requires* some very good stuff to be discarded. |
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#261 |
Groupie
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Fortunately, we have the Internet. I would hope anybody with the skill and time to write a novel can do a five second google search to help them with getting it published.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/SASE |
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#262 | |
Maria Schneider
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#263 |
kookoo
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My opinion on this as a self-publishing author and a long time fantasy genre reader.
I honestly think that ebooks will be the way of the future. 20-50 years from now it may even be illegal to print on paper. That bothers us, but our children and grandchildren won't know any different. Publishers are going to change. They'll scream throughout the process, but they will change. A likely scenario is that publishers will become half-marketing firms that will find decent writers, edit them, produce their cover art, and promote them on thousands of different sites, handling the distribution and pricing wherever they're sold. Indie writers (like myself) will flood the market. This is a bad thing in many ways as it will produce a glut of bad works (not mine of course) ![]() To be successful will no longer take years of beating down the doors of publishers and agents. Now it will take years of writing and creating works that are actually good (like mine) ![]() The reader will change as well. They will learn how to shop differently (as many of you have already) Readers will find groups with like-minded readers and will pay attention to reviews and samples of books. The record industry and the publishing industry are screaming right now because their universes are drastically changing. The only ones that survive will be the ones that figure out how to embrace the change. |
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#264 | |||||||
New York Editor
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What will differ will be the form in which the content is offered and the manner in which it is distributed. (My own feeling is that ebooks will cannibalize the mass market paperback.) Quote:
But reviews may not be sufficient. Consider the state of Amazon.com, where reviews might be glowing praise posted by the author or the author's sock puppets, and not actual comment by satisfied readers. Personally, I pay attention to reviews by people I know are real reviewers whose taste I understand. (And it doesn't have to be a good review - there are reviewers whose review will make me say "He hated it, so I'll probably love it, because his taste is diametrically opposite mine.") I take supposed customer reviews with a 5lb sack of salt. Quote:
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But I largely agree. The question is what embracing that change will mean. ______ Dennis |
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#265 | |
Groupie
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In my experience, the average of online reviews for a given product or store have predicted very accurately how satisfied I am with that product or store. I have learned through direct experience to put a lot of trust in those reviews (except where the number of reviews is very small). The only people who are saying online reviews can't be trusted have an separate agenda. I think in your case it's clear that your agenda is to keep the big publishers in business. |
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#266 | |||||
kookoo
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Reviews in and of themselves are not sufficient. They are an important aspect of the process though. Quote:
What I meant to say is "Writers will succeed by paying attention to the marketing and writing books. I agree with you about the marketing! Still, it doesn't matter how good the marketing is if the writer doesn't write. ![]() |
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#267 |
eReader
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I can't speak for others, but I know that I use ebooks as a mass-market paperback replacement. It's why I'm more concerned about price point for ebooks of works that are already in paperback.
Marketing is the big reason I don't see commercial publishing going away - it may change drastically, but I just can't see it vanishing. Having to do your own marketing is probably the biggest drawback of going indie, and I'm not saying that just because I hate doing it. Running a successful marketing campaign requires a specific skillset, takes time, and often costs money. Not all writers have that skillset, though most could probably acquire it. While money can be an issue, it's not insurmountable, and if something is important enough one can find some money for it. The real killer from a writer's point of view is the time. Successful marketing takes time, a lot of time, so does writing, and unless you have other means of support, so does making a living. Every hour you spend doing one of those three things is an hour not spent doing one of the others, and the one you're most likely to give up for marketing is an hour that would otherwise be spent writing. That means we're likely to get fewer and lower quality books produced because the authors spend less time writing - which means less polishing their craft AND less output. That's why I don't see it as a viable first choice for most writers. |
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#268 | ||||||
New York Editor
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And remember, paper is only one end product made from trees. Look around you, and count how many things are made of wood. Tell me what you would use instead? (For that matter, if paper becomes illegal, what will you wipe with? ![]() Quote:
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We still have vanity presses. I've been exchanging messages with a chap elsewhere who published two books through CreateSpace. (It cost him about $1800.) He financed it through gambling winnings in Las Vegas. ![]() Quote:
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______ Dennis |
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#269 | ||
New York Editor
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______ Dennis |
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#270 | |||
New York Editor
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Well, sorry about that. But what will you do if I'm right? Whether the big publishers remain in business is beyond my control. I have no idea whether they will or not, and for the most part, I don't care. I do know an assortment of people trying to make a living, as writers, or as employees of publishers, and I do care about what happens to them. My agenda, to the extent that I have one, is fairly simple. I know a bit about the process by which books are acquired and published. Based on what I know, I don't think major publishers can make and sell ebooks as cheaply as many people seem to think, and remain in business as going concerns. There's an awful lot of wishful thinking on the part of publishers about how much they can charge, and even more wishful thinking on the part of readers on how little can be charged for them. The truth is somewhere in the middle, and we're all finding out where that middle is. If the major publishers do go out of business, the dual questions are where you will get books you want to read, and whether the authors can make enough money writing them to make it worth while to continue. The stuff I like is the end result of a collaborative process. A writer wrote a manuscript. An editor liked it well enough to buy it, and work with the author to improve it. Other people worked on other parts of the process, and the end result was a book I found worth buying, reading, and having on my shelves (or my reading device.) The value for me is an aggregate of all of those parts, and it's value I'm willing to pay for. Ultimately, you get what you pay for, and if you don't pay, you won't get. My basic take on "let the big publishers go out of business" is "Be careful what you wish for. You might get it." I strongly suspect you will not be happy if you do. ______ Dennis |
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