eBookery 101: Part 2

By:  Kimberly Hitchens is the founder and owner of Booknook.biz, an ebook production company that has produced books for over 750 authors and imprints.

On my last post, "Ebookery 101: The Handbook," which you can see by clicking HERE, I talked about the very fundamentals of ebooks--what are the basic formats,  what are ebook limits, and explained a bit about how readers can change how your book looks.  This week, I'm going to show you how text reflows--wraps--and talk about footnotes and indices.

Text Reflows--or Wraps

When we say that text “reflows,” we mean that when a user changes the font size, or the font, the text adjusts. If the font is bigger, there will be fewer words per line, and fewer per page. From beginning to end, the text changes to suit what the user has asked it to do. You can see examples above, in Figures 1 and 2, of how a book looks just by changing the font size. The screen will display fewer words, which means that the next paragraph will have moved to the next page.

In this page/screen from "The Prince and The Pauper," at a smaller size font, you can see how many lines are viewable in the reading pane (the white "page" area).

In this shot, we've kept the reading pane exactly the same size, but our reader has enlarged the font, so it's easier for him to read.  You can see how many fewer words there are per line, and how many fewer lines are now visible in the same space.  The other lines have now "reflowed" to the next screen.

This is what we mean when we say that text "reflows" and that it is very difficult to try to control what a user sees at any given time. Ebooks are not like PDFs or print, and it will be very helpful for you to understand this early in the process so you can learn not to worry about things that cannot be controlled.

What about my Footnotes?  My Index?

Ebooks work like old-fashioned webpages.  What goes on behind the scenes is just one big long scrolling webpage. This means that "pages," as we think of them, are an illusion.  There are no pages in ebooks.

Experienced ebook formatters know how to use coding to provide the appearance of page breaks before Chapters, and white space to show scenebreaks. This helps create the illusion of pages. 

Footnotes can't be put at the bottom of a "page," like we do in print, because there are no pages.  Therefore there is no "bottom of a page."  But you can put your footnotes as endnotes to your chapter or to the book, whichever you prefer.  Sometimes, if there are only a very few notes in the whole book, you might like to just use a bracketed number right there in the sentence. [1]Like this, to cite the footnote. A good formatter, like Booknook.biz, can do whatever you like best.

For an Index, Use Search

As we discussed above, instead of linked indices, it is often better to use the built-in search function that is available on most devices.  By the time of this writing, it might be available on every device.
 
When you use linked indexes, the only thing that the page numbers can link to is the page where the text used to be in your Word file.  In the ebook, when a user clicks that, it might be several "screens" away from where the word is actually used.  (This is due to how Word sets the index links when you generate them automatically).  You can see how this could frustrate your reader.  This is why we recommend not using linked indexes.  If you want them, we (or any other formatter) are happy to provide them, but please give the matter some thought.  Remember that you want your reader to have the best possible experience.  Not only that, but not using linked indices is a huge cost-savings for  you!

A user on an iPad simply highlights a word and hits search, and...

The results pop up!  Your readers can search for index items, from within a typed index, exactly the same way.

Are we having fun yet?  By the way, the book presented on the iPad screenshots, for demonstrating the "search" functions, is by some practically unknown author named L.J. Sellers.  (ha!) Thanks, L.J.!  This is from her wonderful book, "The Baby Thief," which is a "don't miss." 

Next time, well, you're getting a rerun, as my next blog is due on Christmas Day.  Given the slew of books that have hit our doorstep here at ye olden Booknook.biz, that are expected out before Christmas, I fully expect to be unconscious on Christmas Day. I intend to rerun Cover Design Calypso, Part 1, which originally appeared on my own website in April of 2010--and is truer today than it was then.  Covers matter! 

Happy Holidays to all, and I'll see you in 2013. 

--- Hitch

25 Reasons to Self-publish, Part II

By:  Kimberly Hitchens is the founder and owner of Booknook.biz, an ebook production company that has produced books for over 750 authors and imprints.

Today, we continue, "25 Reasons to Self-Publish, Part II," continued from the first post, "25 Reasons to Self-Publish, Part I." 

Last time, we wrapped with #13 (25 inconveniently being an odd number).  Read, rejoice, and be merry!
  


14. EBooks on the rise. "Since April 1 2011, Amazon sold 105 books for its Kindle e-reader for every 100 hardcover and paperback books, including books without Kindle versions and excluding free e-books. (after less than 4 years of selling ebooks) " http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/technology/20amazon.html NYTimes. Printed May 2011.

15. More ebooks on the rise while print falls. "According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), in 2011 e-book sales rose 117%, generating revenue of $969.9 million, while sales in all trade print segments fell, with mass-market paperbacks plunging by nearly 36%." http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/financial-reporting/article/50805-aap-estimates-e-book-sales-rose-117-in-2011-as-print-fell.html Publishers Weekly. February 2012.

16. Interest in and loyalty to authors over publishers. (Yes, L.J, Drew, I'm talkin' to you!) "A 2006 survey (conducted by Spier New York) found that book readers were visiting publisher and author websites; half have purchased books as gifts. 18% of readers have visited a publisher’s website. 23% of readers have been to an author’s website." http://www.barbaradoyen.com/author-promotion/do-you-have-a-website via Publishers Weekly (expired, can't find original source)

17. The rise of the Kindle Millionaires. "Hocking says she’s sold 900,000 copies (mostly electronic) of nine different books since April 2010. If you give her the highest price point and royalty for each book, that would mean she’s made close to $2 million." http://www.forbes.com/sites/kiriblakeley/2011/03/06/who-wants-to-be-a-kindle-millionaire/ Forbes. March 2011.

18. And for paper....Those of you who are old-fashioned types can cheaply self-publish paperback copies through Amazon's CreateSpace. "For $25, the on-demand book publisher will list a book on Ingram and Baker & Taylor, two of the national distribution catalogs from which bookstores order new copies." How to Use CreateSpace: http://mashable.com/2011/07/19/self-publish-amazon-createspace/

19. Genre fiction sells well as ebooks. "Crime, sci-fi, Christian fiction, and other genres drive e-book sales. Deborah Reed wrote "A Small Fortune" while waiting for her literary novel to take off. The success of her thriller drove up sales of her first book." http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech/2012/0504/How-to-self-publish-an-e-book Christian Science Monitor May 2012 (For all my buds here at CFC!)

20. You retain all rights to your manuscript. "It’s typical for publishers to take 50% of the advance on rights deals they make themselves, and if your agent brokered the original then she’ll take her 15% commission out of your 50% share; whereas if your agent sells those rights for you directly, you’ll get all your advance minus your agent’s cut." http://howpublishingreallyworks.com/?p=4045 June 2011. More details on author rights in traditional publishing contracts: http://www.fonerbooks.com/contract.htm Morris Rosenthal. 2011. (Hitch note: for those of us who are control freaks, this one is hard to resist.)

21. The Tide! "Since 2008, there have been more self-published titles than traditionally published ones. In 2009 there were 764,448 self-published books." A list of the most successful self-published Sci Fi and Fantasy Authors: http://io9.com/5911634/the-most-successful-self+published-sci+fi-and-fantasy-authors i09 Books. May 2012.

22. Publish Internationally. "In a move that could cut some agents out, Amazon now allows those authors to distribute their print books through European Amazon sites for free." Paid Content. http://paidcontent.org/2012/05/17/amazon-createspace-europe/ May 2012.

23. Ebooks in Translation: Romance author Barbara Freethy "sold 1.6 million copies total and is taking an unusual step: Self-publishing foreign-language editions of those e-books ... Freethy’s The Sweetest Thing, which costs $2.99 and was originally published by Avon in 1999, is now #35 on the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) combined print + e-book bestseller list and #22 on the e-book-only list." Paid Content. http://paidcontent.org/2012/03/22/419-the-next-self-publishing-frontier-foreign-language-editions/ March 2012.

24. The Write Stuff: "In 2006 there were around 51,000 authors who self published books. By the end of 2010 that number had exploded to more than 133 thousand." Self Publishing Gives Budding Authors The Write Stuff. http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/05/14/self-publishing-gives-budding-authors-the-write-stuff/ CBS. May 2012.

25. Editors, Editors, Editors: (Jodie, my friend, this one's for YOU!): You can employ an editor yourself. "In the past, self-published books lacked one thing that traditionally published books had - a good editing and revision process. I think that greatly affected the opinions of the bookstores, reviewers and even readers. I have witnessed a great turn in traditionally published writers choosing the self-publishing route." http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20120506/LIFESTYLE/205060315/Self-published-books-getting-into-mainstream-local-shelves Hattiesburg American. May 2012.

#####

And that's all, folks! Go forth and conquer the authoring world.

25 Reasons to Self-Publish, Part I

By:  Kimberly Hitchens is the founder and owner of Booknook.biz, an ebook production company that has produced books for over 750 authors and imprints.

As part of our recent website overhaul--yes, still in progress, for those of you who've noticed--we're completely revamping our FAQ, Articles, Resources and Helpful Hints Sections.  One of the sections we're adding is our "25 Reasons to Self-Publish" list, which, in preview of the newly-revamped site (I swear, it is coming soon!), I'll be posting the first 13 today and the next 12 in my next scheduled post on the 18th.  So--ready?

25 Reasons to Self-Publish, Part I

1. "Thirty authors have sold more than 100,000 copies of their books through Amazon's Kindle self-publishing program, and a dozen have sold more than 200,000 copies, according to Amazon." Including indie big wigs like Darcie Chan, Michael Connelly, James Patterson and Kathryn Stockett. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-i-became-a-best-selling-author-.html  Wall Street Journal. December, 2011.  

2. As of April 2012, 145 self-published authors have sold more than 50,000 ebooks. And the Amazon CEO reported in his April 2012 annual shareholder newsletter that more than 1,000 KDP authors now each sell more than a thousand copies a month. A list of the 50,000 authors: http://selfpublishingsuccessstories.blogspot.com/  Self-Publishing Success Stories, May 2012.  

3. Jackie Collins explains her decision to self-publish to ebook. "And dealing with publishers, it might be fun just to deal with myself. I always say, "If you have faith in something, do it yourself." http://jackiecollins.com/jackies-blog/on-my-decision-to-self-publish/  

4. James Altucher explains why and how (step by step) he self-published. "Advances are quickly going to zero. Margins are going to zero for publishers.  There’s no financial benefit for going with a publisher if advances are going to zero and royalties are a few percentage points. The publishing industry does minimal editing. The time between book acceptance and release is too long (often a year or more). That's insane." http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/05/why-and-how-i-self-published-a-book/  

5. Stephanie Chandler outlines 12 Reasons to Self-Publish, including royalties and advance payments. "On average, traditional publishers pay authors around $1.25 per book in royalties. So if your book sells for $20, you earn just over a buck. You don’t have to be a mathematician to know that you have to sell a ton of books to actually make decent revenues with a traditional publisher. Conversely, when you publish yourself, your book printing and distribution costs might run around $4.00 per book. Sell a book for $20 and you earn $5 to $10 depending on the retail outlet, and $16 if you sell it yourself. Need I say more?" Regarding advance issues: "If you want to buy copies of your own books from your traditional publisher, expect to pay 40% to 50% off of the retail price. So if your book retails for $20, you will likely pay $10 per copy even though it costs the publisher just $2 or $3 to print your book. Yep, they make money off the authors too. When you self-publish, you buy your books at cost. The average author with a first-time book deal can expect to receive an advance of $5,000 to $15,000. Once your book is released, you won’t see another dime until you have earned back that advance–$1.25 at a time—until the advance is paid back in full." http://authoritypublishing.com/book-publishing/12-reasons-why-self-publishing-kicks-butt-over-traditional-publishing/  June 2011   

6. "Kerry Wilkinson's Jessica Daniel detective novels sell more than 250,000 copies on Kindle" http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/08/self-published-author-amazon-ebook  Guardian. February 2012.  

7. Self-publishing resources make self-publishing easy. "Five-year old publish-on-demand pioneer Lulu says it is doubling in size every year ... Lulu says it publishes 4,000 new titles each week and already has a catalogue of 232,000 books." http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/20/useconomy.booksnews  

8. Indie bookstores are now working with self-published authors: "In response to the growing number of self-published authors seeking shelf space at indie bookstores, savvy booksellers are establishing programs that clearly define their requirements and streamline the consignment process. Profitable programs range from a no-questions-asked spot in a store’s consignment section to an elaborate, tiered event option, including signings, readings, and publicity." http://news.bookweb.org/news/working-self-published-authors . Bookweb. April 2012.  

9. Publishers provide little-to-no marketing services for their authors. "Publishers claim they do a lot of marketing for you. That’s laughable."James Altucher's publisher claimed to have gotten him a review in The Financial Times, a segment about his book on CNBC, and an excerpt in thestreet.com. In reality, Altucher had a column in the Times and wrote his own review as a joke, had a weekly segment on CNBC and spoke about his book, and secured a spot on thestreet.com because he had recently sold them his last company. Why Every Entrepreneur Should Self-Publish a Book. http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/28/why-every-entrepreneur-should-self-publish-a-book/  TechCrunch. January 2012.  

10. Royalty specifics. Information taken directly from amazon.com and barnes&noble. Amazon Kindle Publishing Royalties: $2.99 and above:  70%, under $2.99:  35%  

Barnes & Noble Pubit Royalties: $2.99 and above: 65%, under $2.99:  40%  

i.e. A $2.99 book will result in $2.04 for the author (after Amazon's 30% cut and a small bandwidth charge).  50,000 ebooks sold at $2.99 pricing will generate $102,000 in royalties for the author.  

11. Sales numbers. "Abbott says Only the Innocent has been shifting more than 3,000 copies a day on Amazon. Contrast that with the 2,230 a day managed by last week's top-selling paperback, SJ Watson's Before I Go to Sleep." http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/04/self-publishing-ebooks-rachel-abbott  Guardian. March 2012.  

12. Timing of publication. "Traditional publishing can take 12 to 24 months to get your book published. Self-publishers who have a professionally edited manuscript can get their book to market in ten days!" http://www.thebusinessofwritingtoday.com/why-self-publish-the-tmc-factor  

13. Rise in worldwide consumption of ebooks. Australia, India, the U.K. and the U.S. are leading the world in e-book adoption rates, according to Bowker Market Research’s Global eBook Monitor, "The market for e-books is experiencing exponential growth internationally, with news each week of new e-readers and specialist e-tailers,” said Kelly Gallagher, vice-president, Bowker Market Research. “Publishers and retailers must adapt to a very changed landscape. This research is essential for effectively navigating that new landscape and creating successful business models.” http://www.bowker.com/en-US/aboutus/press_room/2012/pr_03272012.shtml  Bowker. March 2012.  

Had enough excitement for this week?  Meet me back here on the 18th for the reasons #14-25!  See you then, eBook Buckaroos!

Libraries, Nook Readers, and Amazon

By L.J. Sellers and Andrew Kaufman

L.J: In response to one of my blogs about enrolling in the Amazon select program, which requires exclusivity, a librarian posted this comment:
"As a public librarian and a Nook owner, I see another side. We are struggling to offer ebooks and eaudiobooks to our patrons without any increase in funding while still keeping up our print collections for patrons who have not jumped on the ereader bandwagon. We have to deal with everything from publishers who won’t sell to libraries at all, publishers who charge libraries up to 10 times the price of what an individual pays, publishers who limit the number of times the item we purchase may be used, etc. We have access to one company (Overdrive) who will maintain our ematerials, but we are bound by their policies or we can go independent, but the costs and knowledge base required are so astronomical that it currently isn’t possible to maintain our own ematerials. Seems like everyone is trying to figure out the best way to do this.

...It worries me when I read that some of you want to be Kindle exclusive. As I said, I have a Nook and I don’t want to switch to an Amazon ereader for many reasons. It worries me that some day there might be only one ereader and we would all be at the mercy of one company. None of you mentioned selling through Overdrive and I wonder your thoughts on that.

Please know that the library community wants you to make money. We are author’s biggest champions and want you to flourish in whatever medium is popular at that time."

Andrew’s response: I actually struggled for quite some time over the decision to make my work exclusive to Amazon, and the reasons were exactly as mentioned above. I didn’t want to keep people from having access to my work simply because they owned different e-reading devices, didn’t think it would be fair. In addition to that, I believe competition among companies is of benefit to all.

Unfortunately, at the same time, I also noticed that my sales on Nook and other e-reading devices had been progressively dwindling down to practically nothing. In addition to that, on Amazon—the place where I make the lion’s share of my earnings—my sales were also showing a steady decline as the market became flooded with more self-published authors than ever. I was sinking all around and at one point, wondered if I could stay afloat. I soon came to the realization that if I didn’t have readers, I wasn’t going to survive as an author, something that’s as vital to me as breathing. I had to do something.

As independent authors, we face a particularly difficult challenge because odds are stacked against us. We carry the stigma that our work is inferior to traditionally published authors. We also don’t have the kind of wide distribution channels that mainstream authors have, nor do we get cash advances to rely on. We make our money one book at a time, one reader at a time. In short, it’s up to us and only us to ensure our work gets read, and we have to do what we can do increase the odds.

After releasing my new novel, one that I’d worked tirelessly on for more than two years, and after seeing that it was beginning to fall through the cracks, I knew I needed to take action. I believed very strongly in it and knew I needed to do whatever I could to ensure its success. Select was an opportunity to do that, to breathe new life into it, to give it the exposure it needed. In all honestly, was my only option. I took it.

Do I feel badly that readers with Nook and other devices are being penalized? Absolutely. However, I also realize that the decision to go exclusive is not forever; it’s for ninety days, and I can most certainly make my work available to the others after that if there’s a demand for it.

L.J.’s response: I also feel badly for Nook readers, but I’m running a small publishing business that supports my household, and I had to make a profitable business decision. I hope Nook owners will take their case to B&N and ask them to make the changes that will allow self-published books to be discovered. Without that, most indie authors aren’t making money on Nook and have little reason to stay.

As for library patrons, I would love to make my books available to them, but unless I donate them, it’s nearly impossible. Even when I had a small publisher, libraries didn’t buy my books, despite my great reviews and the thousands of dollars I spent sending out promotional material.

As for Overdrive, they don’t deal with individual authors. Even my ebook distributor, which handled hundreds of authors (all with five books or more) had difficulty accessing Overdrive. The other consideration is that indie ebooks typically sell for less than five dollars, and digital files never wear out or need to be replaced, so the library market holds little profit for indies. Still, if the opportunity were available, I would donate ebooks to libraries just to expose new readers to my work. But I have no idea how to make that happen or if libraries can even accept donated ebooks.

The bottom line is: Amazon is the only company that has ever supported my work and helped me access readers, so they have my loyalty.

What are your thoughts on this hot-button topic? 

Moving Toward Amazon Only

by L.J. Sellers, bestselling author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

I suspect that blogging during the week after Christmas will be a lot like going into the office at this time—eerily quiet, with only a few other diehards around. But I'm trying to keep the site live during the break, so I'll be posting all week and running some favorites. But to start with, here's a recent (and updated) post from my own blog.

And the craziness continues! Last week The Sex Club, which is selling well again (after the giveaway), was suddenly being discounted on Amazon from $2.99 to $.99. Which means, I was suddenly making a third of the money. After cursing loud and long, I tracked down the culprit. Kobo was selling the title at $.99—even though I requested the retailer take it down two weeks ago.

I asked for the takedown because I had enrolled The Sex Club in the Kindle Select program and it requires exclusivity. So the fact that it was still selling there could have gotten me kicked out of the program. I did everything possible to correct it—including sending a legal "cease and desist" letter—but retailers are notoriously slow about taking down books, especially if they’re selling. (After 10 days, they finally removed it.)

I distribute to Kobo, Sony, Apple, and various other retailers through INgrooves, and this was not the first time I’ve had to deal with the discounting issue. For those not familiar, here’s the short version: Amazon will not be underpriced. If a competitor puts an ebook on sale, Amazon matches the price. This can be a serious problem for authors who make most of their money from Amazon and need to control what price their books sell for on Amazon.

When I starting losing money on Amazon, I see my mortgage payment for the next month disappearing. Which led me to finally withdraw all my books from INgrooves. The small amount of money I make from other retailers is offset by the profit I lose from the discounting issue.

My only hesitation, as always, was readers. I want them to have full access to my books, regardless of their e-reader device. But I’m running a small publishing business (Spellbinder Press), and I have to make smart business decisions. I have to be able to track and predict profit.
 
Also, I have to remind readers that my most of my ebooks are available for purchase from my website.
Other writers tell me I should upload to Smashwords as my distributor, but that doesn’t fix the discounting issue. And I’m tired of continuously having to scan the other retailers to ensure they’re not undercutting my ability to make a living from Kindle sales.

Pulling my books from INgrooves leaves me with ebooks available only on Kindle and Nook. But what I sell on B&N/Nook every month won’t even pay my cell phone bill.

After I see my first bonus payment from Amazon for enrolling in the Select program, I’ll have to decide whether keeping my Detective Jackson books on B&N is actually worth it. I predict I’ll be exclusive to Amazon by the end of the next year. Some people may see this as a sell out. But I have to make a living, and I’m worth more than minimum wage.

Readers: Can you sympathize with this decision?
Writers: How do you deal with the discounting issue?

Pilcrow No-No's, Part II

When last we left off, I was rather pathetically attempting to explain the mysteries of the Pilcrow (the infamous reverse P, seen here:  ¶), and, more importantly, why being able to see it with ease matters.  A picture being worth a thousand words, let’s start with this:

A Plain Word file--looks perfectly normal, right?

 

Now, as you look at it, you’ll see that it looks perfectly normal; nothing out of the ordinary.  If Blogger will allow me to upload this in a large enough size, (It doesn't; for full-size and readable images, please see this link:  http://screencast.com/t/Hw46kxs40Npe)  the sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that something is a bit off—all the words at the beginning of each line appear to be either grammatically incorrect, or misspelled, according to Word’s built-in checker—they’re all underlined in squiggly green.

But what Word is really telling you is that the words aren't “misspelled,” per se; the problem is that they are not capitalized.  Why would Word think that they require capitalization, though?  Most of these are, to our eyes, in the midst of a sentence.  But to Word’s “eyes,” they are not in the middle of a sentence—they’re at the beginning of a new paragraph.

To see what I (and Word) mean, I’ll turn on the Pilcrow (click on the backwards P on the Word toolbar or Ribbon in the Home tab for Word 2007 and 2010) and show you what this really looks like—and what’s really encoded:

Aha!  The Culprits appear!

 

And that’s what Word sees—a page full of one-line-long paragraphs.  (Again, for a full-size image, please see this link:  http://screencast.com/t/IPUxVZmv) No wonder it thinks that all those words at the beginning of each line need capitalization!  More importantly, if you tried to reformat this manuscript—even just to type in it, what you would get would be one line that would word-wrap properly (so you’d see the teeny-weeny “dot” at the end of each line, floating directly after the last word in that line), but the rest of the sentence would end prematurely on the next line, without the wrapping carrying throughout the document, as you are accustomed to Word doing.  (In Ye Olden Times, when Dinosaurs Walked the Earth, “repagination.”).

To try to search and replace all these pilcrows is not a task for the faint of heart.  There are over 8,000 errant paragraph marks in the (from scan & OCR) document I used for this demonstration.  Having to go through your ms and search-and-replace those one at a time would be a time-consuming task, and while there are faster methods for folks with some training in html, it’s not that easy to do; after all, you can’t just tell Word to search and replace the paragraph mark with a space—or all your paragraphs will disappear, leaving you with a single, very, very long paragraph in your story.  You can’t simply tell it to search for paragraph marks surrounded by letters, either; for some of those are “real” paragraphs, as well.  However, through the simple expedient of turning on your Pilcrow, and scanning the right-hand edge of your document, you’ll at least be able to spot and identify any stragglers quickly and easily.

Hope this helped!

This post contributed by Kimberly A. Hitchens ("Hitch"), Owner and founder of Booknook.biz, one of the premiere Indy eBook production companies in North America.  

We didn't have a contract

For months I had been telling my paper publisher for my second mystery, Whose Hand? A Skeeter Hughes Mystery, that we did not have a contract. He replied repeatedly that we would work under the same terms we had used for my first mystery, Where's Billie?,  that he had published. I pushed on.

After I had written, revised, revised and revised, I hired an editor to work on Whose Hand? I called my publisher and left messages that I was working on the book, but WE DIDN'T HAVE A CONTRACT. He did not return my calls.

Last January, after I was happy with Whose Hand? I put it on Kindle and Nook. Sales were pretty good, and boosted  interest in the first book as well.  My publisher decided to delay release of Whose Hand? from spring to fall 2011. Given that WE DIDN'T HAVE A CONTRACT, and it was doing ok in epub, I went along, even though that meant the second book would be released two years after the first, which is too long.

Whose Hand? is set to release in August. Last week I told my publisher that WE DIDN'T HAVE A CONTRACT. "That's not good," he said.

He invited me to his office, and mentioned nonchalantly as the contract printed out, that it had changed a bit. "I'm going to be doing the Kindle and Nook publishing now," he said.

"No," I said, fully prepared to walk out of his office without a contract for paper.

Our first contract specifically said that I retained electronic rights to the work. I wasn't about to let go of those rights for the second book.

"What percentage would you give me?" I asked, curious only to hear what he'd say. "I get 70 percent from Kindle and 70 percent from Nook."

He was dumbfounded. He had planned to send the file of my work to another vendor, who would put it up on Kindle and Nook, then pay him 50 cents for each copy sold. I get $2.10 per book now, I told him. Shock and awe.

"How do you get it in the Kindle?" he asked.

"I read the directions," I replied.

"Maybe I should have you put all my other books on Kindle," he said.

In the end, we signed a contract identical to my first with him, including a sentence that says I retain all electronic rights. 

My paper publisher's family is now in it's third generation in the business. He's a savvy man, in the print world. But like many publishers he's caught in a very steep learning curve of the rapidly changing world.

So what's the lesson in this tale? We're all learning. But we indie authors have to stay with every bend in the road, or we're going to get run over. And never, never, never sell your electronic rights for less than a bizzilion dollars.

Have you had an experience like this?